r 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF 
CALIFORNIA 

SAN  DIEGO 


INTERLACHEN     AND     THE     JUNGFRAtT. 


frmti  Sfeifotrlxifr. 


BY 

SAMUEL  IRENJEUS  PRIME, 

ATITHOE   OF   "  TRAVELS   IN   EUROPE  AND   THE   EAST," 
&C.,    &0. 


NEW    YORK: 
SHELDON   &   COMPANY,   115  Nassau  Street. 

BOSTON:  GOULD  &  LINCOLN. 

1860. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1860,  by 
SHELDON    &    COMPANY, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Southern  District  of 
New-York. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I 

BASLE     AND     THE     RHINE. 

The  Three  Kings — Cathedral — Council  of  Basle — Puritan  rules — Dance  of 
Death — Seats  in  the  Diligence — Supplement — The  Rhine — An  Alderman 
in  trouble — Dining  in  haste — English  manners — Girls  in  holiday  dress — 
Falls  of  the  Rhine — Niagara — Up  the  river — Old  nunneries — Gottlieben — 

Prisons  of  Hnss  and  Jerome  of  Prague. 

Pages  9-20 

CHAPTER    II. 

CONSTANCE     AND      ZUBICH. 

A  decaying  Town — the  Kaufhaus — Famous  Council — Dungeon  of  Huss — 
Scene  of  Martyrdom — House  of  Huss — Lake  Constance — the  Ride  to 
Zurich— Villages — the  Valley — Hotel  Baur — a  Swiss  Cottage — the  Fur- 
nishing— Miles  Coverdale — Zwingle — Lavater's  Grave — the  Library — Sun- 
set View  from  the  Botanical  Garden.  Pages  21-31 

(5) 


Tl  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE     MOUNTAIN     TOPS 

Climbing  the  Utleberg — Fat  woman  on  a  donkey — First  Alpine  Tiew — The 
valley,  lake  and  hills — Haunts  of  Lavater,  Zimmerman,  Klopstock,  Gessner 
— The  work  of  Escher — Coming  Down — Baur  Hotel — Lake  Zurich — Lake 
Zug — Golda — Land-side — Ruin — Ascent  of  the  Rigi — The  best  route — 
Chapels  by  the  way — Mary  of  the  Snow — Convent  and  monks — The 
Summit — The  Company — Change  of  Temperature — Sunset — Supper — 
Night — Sunrise — Glory  of  the  view — Getting  down  again — Fat  man 
done  up.  Pages  32-53 

CHAPTER    IV. 

LUCERNE  AND  THE  LAND  OF   TELL. 

The  Lake — Avalanches — Pontius  Pilate — Lucerne — Dance  of  Death — Fishing — 
Storm  on  the  Lake — Ramble  among  the  Peasantry — Two  Dwarfs — On  the 
Lake— Rifle  Shooting— Chapel  of  William  Tell— Scenes  in  his  Life— Altorf 

— Hay-Making — a  Great  Day. 

Pages  54-80 

CHAPTER    V. 

PASS     OF     ST.     GOTHABB. 

The  Priest's  Leap — The  Devil's  Bridge — Night  on  the  Mountains — Storm — 
Hospenthal — the  Glaciers — a  Lady  in  Distress — the  Furca  Pass — Glacier  of 
the  Rhone — Heinrich  and  Nature — Heinrich  asks  after  God — Scene  in  the 
Hospice.  Pages  81-106 

CHAPTER    VI. 

GLACIERS      OF      THE      AAB. 

My  new  Friend— a  "Wonderful  Youth— Hospice  of  the  Grimsel— the  Valley— a 
comfortable  Day— Glaciers  of  the  Aar— a  Gloomy  Vale— Climbing  a  Hill- 
View  of  the  Glacier — Theory  of  its  Formation — Caverns  in  the  Ice — Inci- 
dents of  Men  falling  in— My  Leap  and  Fall— an  Artist  Lost— Return. 

Pages  107-121 


CONTKNTS.  Vll 


CHAPTER    VII. 

MOUNTAINS,     STREAMS     AND      FALLS. 

Pedestrianism— Mountain  Torrents— Fall  of  the  Handek— The  Guide  and  his 
Little  Ones— Falls  of  the  Reichenbach— Perilous  Point  of  View. 

Pages  122-145 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

A      GLACIER     AND     AVALANCHE. 

Alpine  Horn — Beggars — The  Rosenlaui  Glacier — Beautiful  Views — Glorious 
Mountain  Scenes — Mrs.  Kinney's  "Alps" — A  Lady  and  Babe — The  Great 
Scheidek — Grindelwald — Eagle  and  Bear — Battle  with  Bugs — Wengern 
Alp— A  real  Avalanche— The  Jungfrau.  Pages  146-165 

CHAPTER    IX. 

INTERLACHEN     AND      BERNE. 

The  Stauhach  Fall — Lauterbrunnen — Interlachen — Cretins  and  Goitre — Dr. 
Guggenbuhl — Giesbach  Fall — Berne — Inquisitive  Lady — Swiss  Creed — 

Crossing  the  Gernmi — Leuchenbad  Baths. 

Pages  166-180 

CHAPTER    X. 

MONKS     OF     ST.      BERNARD. 

The  Char-a-banc — the  Napoleon  Pass — Travellers  in  winter — Monks — Dogs — 
Dinner — Music — Dead  House — Contributions — a  Monk's  Kiss. 

Pages  181-192 

CHAPTER    XI. 

FIRST     SIGHT      OF      MONT      BLANC. 

The  Host  of  Martigny— Vale  of  the  Drance— Mount  Rosa— Tete  Noire— Col  de 

Balm — The  Monarch  of  the  Alps. 

Pages  193-204 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    XII. 

GENEVA 

A  good  House— Prisoner  of  Chillon— Calvin— Dr.  Malan— Dr.  Gaussen— Col. 

Tronchin— the  Cemetery. 

Pages  205-213 

CHAPTEE    XIII. 

PICTURES     IN     SWITZERLAND. 

Waterfalls — Constance — Zurich — William  Tell — Glaciers — the  Monarch. 

Pages  214-246 

CHAPTER    XIV. 

SAXON     SWTTZ. 

A  Model  Guide — the  Bastei— Banditti  of  old — a  Cataract  to  Order — Scaling  a 
Rampart — Konigstein — the  Kuhstall — the  Great  Winterberg — Prebisch 
Thor— Looking  Back.  Pages  247-264 


SWITZERLAND. 


CHAPTER  I. 

BA8LE     AND     THE     RHINE. 

The  Three  Kings— Cathedral— Council  of  Basle— Puritan  rules— Dance  of 
Death — Seats  in  the  Diligence — Supplement — The  Rhine — An  Alderman 
in  trouble — Dining  in  haste — English  manners — Girls  in  holiday  dress — 
Falls  of  the  Rhine — Niagara — Up  the  river — Old  nunneries — Gottlieben — 
Prisons  of  Huss  and  Jerome  of  Prague. 

WITZERLAND,     to     be     seen 
aright,    must    be     entered    from 
Germany.     Many  travellers  rush 
from  Paris  to  Geneva,  and  begin- 
ning with   Chamouni    and  Mont 
Blanc  come  down  from  the  greater 
to  the  less,  tapering  off  with  the 
beautiful  instead  of  rising  to  the 
sublime.     One  lovely  summer  day 
in  the  early  part  of  the  month  of  August,  we  left 
Baden  Baden,  where  we  had  been  resting  after  a  tour 
in  Belgium,  Holland,  Prussia,  Saxony,  Saxon  Switz- 
(9)  1* 


10  SWITZERLAND. 

erland,  Austria,  Bavaria,  and  Bohemia,  and  came  by 
the  Duke  of  Baden's  railroad  to  Basle. 

The  hotel  de  Trois  Rois,  or,  Three  Kings, 
was  reluctant  to  receive  us,  so  great  was  the  rush 
of  company.  Large  as  some  of  our  own  first  class 
hotels,  it  was  crowded  to  overflowing,  but  we  found 
lodgings  for  three  at  the  top  of  the  house.  It  stands 
on  the  very  borders  of  the  river  Rhine,  which 
rushes  by  with  a  powerful  current,  and  the  verandah 
in  front  overhanging  the  stream  is  a  pleasant  lounge 
after  a  weary  day  of  travel.  Lodgings  for  three  gen- 
tlemen, or  in  German,  "fur  drei  herren,"  we  had 
so  often  asked  for,  that  we  came  to  be  called  the 
"  Drei  Herren."  or  "  dry  herring,"  as  it  sounded  in 
our  English  ears. 

The  river  forms  a  broad  and  noble  stream  along 
the  sloping  bank  on  which  the  city  stands  ;  the  Jura 
mountains  rise  on  one  side,  and  the  hills  of  the 
Black  Forest  on  the  other,  while  the  intermediate 
region  is  richly  covered  with  vegetation,  and  the  villas 
of  a  wealthy  class  of  people  who  have  retired  from  the 
city,  or  who  own  the  soil.  Basle  is  a  goodly  town,  and 
if  the  people  have  some  rigid  notions  of  morality  in  the 
judgment  of  travellers  of  easy  virtue,  it  is  refreshing 
to  come  into  a  city  where  the  shops  are  closed  of  a 
Sunday,  and  every  one  is  required  to  be  at  home  by 
eleven  o'clock  at  night.  A  city  that  bore  so  conspic- 


BASLE   AND   THE   RHINE.  11 

uous  a  part  in  the  Reformation,  and  still  cherishes 
the  ashes  of  so  many  great  and  good  men,  ought  not 
to  lose  its  veneration  for  the  spirit  and  principles  of 
the  past.  In  the  Cathedral,  now  in  process  of  reno- 
vation, we  stood  over  the  dust  of  the  learned  ERAS- 
MUS, read  his  epitaph  in  Latin,  walked  among  the 
beautiful  cloisters  which  have  been  burial  places  for 
the  wise  and  good  for  more  than  six  hundred  years  ! 
where  the  monuments  stand  of  Grynaeus,  and  Meyer, 
and  (Ecolampadius,  men  who  were  mighty  in  the 
Scriptures,  in  the  days  when  such  men  were  few. 
"We  walked  through  the  portal  of  St.  Gallus,  under 
the  statues  of  Christ  and  Peter,  and  the  wise  and 
foolish  Virgins,  and  admired  the  pulpit  of  three  pieces 
of  stone,  carved  with  great  skill  and  effect ;  and  then 
we  were  led  to  the  chamber  where  the  Council  of 
Basle  held  its  sessions,  beginning  in  1436,  and  last- 
ing eight  years.  It  has  undergone  no  alterations  in 
the  four  hundred  years  which  have  since  elapsed.  In 
the  Library  are  preserved  manuscripts  of  Luther, 
Melancthon,  Erasmus  and  Zwingle,  and  a  huge 
volume  in  which  illustrious  visitors  had  inscribed 
their  names  for  two  hundred  years.  The  celebrated 
pictures  of  the  Dance  of  Death  once  adorned  the 
walls  of  the  Dominican  church  in  Basle,  and  a  few 
of  them  still  preserved  are  now  hung  up  in  this  col- 
lection, among  others  of  greater  merit  but  less  fame, 


12  SWITZERLAND. 

by  Holbein.  A  beautiful  picture,  which  I  have  seen 
attempted  with  far  less  success  before,  presents  a 
Venus  sleeping  by  the  side  of  a  stream,  and  a  skull 
lying  near  her,  and  flowers  blooming  around,  to 
illustrate  the  lines  :  Mortis  imago  sopor  :  velut  amnis 
labitur  cetas^  vix  forma  reliqaium  pulms  et  ossa 
manent"  " The  image  of  death  is  sleep  :  like  the 
river  life  glides  away,  and  dust  and  bones,  the  only 
relics  of  departed  beauty,  are  left  behind."  In 
the  next  room  the  same  sentiment  is  more  impress- 
ively taught  from  an  uncovered  sarcophagus,  in 
which  a  female  mummy  grins  horribly  at  you,  as  you 
look  into  the  narrow  house  which  she  has  slept  in  for 
two  or  three  thousand  years. 

The  architecture  of  this  old  Swiss  town  is  very 
curious,  and  many  of  the  most  antique  gateways  and 
fortifications,  towers  and  walls,  remain  to  this  hour, 
showing  the  quaint  but  not  bad  devices  in  the  way 
of  ornament,  which  were  in  use  450  years  ago.  In 
old  times,  too,  they  had  moral  laws  here  quite  as 
stringent  as  those  imputed  to  our  New  England 
ancestors.  On  the  Sabbath,  no  one  might  go  to 
church  unless  dressed  in  black ;  the  number  of  dishes 
and  the  quantity  of  wine  for  a  dinner  party  were 
regulated  by  law,  as  well  as  the  style  and  quality  of 
clothes.  The  good  people  used  to  put  religious 


BASLE   AND   THE   KHTNE.  13 

mottoes  over  their  doors,  and  one  or  two  public 
houses  still  have  them  : 

"  In  God  I  build  my  hopes  of  grace, 
The  ancient  Pig's  my  dwelling  place." 

And  another  still  more  earnest : 

"  Wake  and  repent  your  sins  with  grief, 
I'm  called  the  Golden  Shin  of  Beef." 

The  gates  of  the  town  are  closed  on  the  Sabbath 
day  during  the  hours  of  service,  and  an  outward 
respect  paid  to  the  day  which  is  creditable  to  the 
people.  In  the  hotel,  a  small  room  has  been  fitted 
up  neatly  as  a  chapel  for  an  English  service,  a  custom 
not  unusual  in  Switzerland,  where  English  travellers 
are  flocking  constantly. 

Basle  is  the  great  starting  point  for  Swiss  travelling 
for  those  who  enter  the  German  frontier.  We  have 
now  come  to  the  end  of  railroads,  and  must  depend 
on  horses  or  go  afoot.  The  sooner  one  takes  his 
place  in  the  diligence  after  arriving,  the  more  likely 
he  is  to  have  a  good  seat  when  he  wishes  to  depart, 
and  though  we  were  early  for  this,  no  less  than 
twelve  had  the  start  of  us,  and  the  coach  carried 
only  nine.  "  You  shall  have  a  supplement"  we  were 
told,  and  at  nine  in  the  morning  with  twenty-five 
travellers  we  were  at  the  Post  Office,  to  be  des- 
patched with  the  mails  and  the  females  to  Schaff- 


14  SWITZERLAND. 

hausen.  This  posting  is  a  Government  concern,  and 
the  postmaster  has  charge  of  the  horses  as  well  as 
the  letters.  There  was  no  place  but  the  middle  of 
the  street  in  which  to  remain,  till  at  the  appointed 
hour  the  heavy  diligence  lumbered  up  to  the  door : 
the  nine  predestinated  thereunto  took  their  seats  ;  an 
omnibus  and  one  or  two  carriages  by  way  of  supple- 
ment, received  the  rest  of  us,  many  grumbling 
grievously  that  they  had  not  places  in  the  coach,  and 
others  preferring  as  we  did,  an  easy  carriage  with  a 
party  of  four.  The  postillion  dressed  in  a  yellow 
jacket  with- a  brass  horn  under  his  arm,  with  which 
he  amused  himself  and  the  country  people  as  he 
passed,  mounted  the  box,  and  we  soon  crossed  the 
Rhine,  and  followed  its  banks  upward  for  many  a 
pleasant  mile.  The  morning  was  tine  after  a  rainy 
night,  clear,  cool  and  bracing ;  the  distant  Alps  were 
constantly  in  sight  on  the  right,  and  the  winding, 
often  rapid,  always  beautiful  river,  with  its  vine-clad 
shores  and  smiling  cottages  was  by  our  side.  We 
left  the  carriage  at  Lauffenburg,  and  walked  to  the 
banks  of  the  Rhine,  where  the  river  is  choked  into  a 
narrow  gorge,  and  dashes  with  terrible  force  through 
a  deep  sunk  channel,  among  opposing  rocks,  making 
a  fearful  pass  in  which  an  English  nobleman  lost  his 
life,  attempting  to  make  the  rapids  in  a  little  boat. 
Resuming  our  seats,  we  found  one  of  our  fellow  trav- 


BASLE   AND   THE   BHINE.      .  15 

ellers  belonging  to  the   diligence,  Alderman  

of  New  York  left  behind.  The  coach  was  out  of  call, 
and  the  best  he  could  do  was  to  mount  the  edge  of 
the  postillion's  single  seat  in  front  of  our  carriage  and 
ride  on  to  the  next  post  town.  The  Alderman  was 
heavy,  the  place  was  too  strait  for  him,  and  I  sug- 
gested that  a  franc  would  buy  the  whole  seat.  He 
tried  the  effect  of  it,  the  postillion  took  the  silver, 
dropped  down  upon  the  foot  rest,  and  the  Alderman 
had  the  seat  to  himself.  In  an  hour  we  stopped  to 
dine.  Perhaps  we  were  here  a  few  moments  sooner 
than  mine  host  of  the  Waldshut  Hotel  expected  us, 
for  the  dinner  was  not  on  the  table,  but  it  gave  us  a 
fine  opportunity  to  observe  a  specimen  of  manners 
sufficiently  characteristic  to  be  made  a  matter  of 
record.  At  the  table  there  sat  ten  English,  six  Ger- 
man, and  seven  American  ladies  and  gentlemen. 
The  dishes  were  slow  in  coming  in  ;  the  English  gen- 
tlemen all  having  ladies  under  their  care,  left  the 
table,  rushed  into  the  kitchen,  seized  the  best  dishes 
of  meats  they  could  find,  brought  them  to  their  own 
places,  and  helping  themselves  and  their  ladies,  de- 
voured them  in  the  presence  of  the  more  barbarous 
Germans  and  Americans,  who  looked  on  with  amaze- 
ment. I  took  the  liberty  of  remarking  that  it  was  an 
outrage,  of  which  I  had  never  before  seen  an  example 
in  civilized  life,  and  was  happy  to  observe  that  the 


16  SWITZERLAND. 

practice  was  confined  to  a  single  nation  out  of  the 
number  represented  here.  An  English  lady  gave  me 
an  approving  nod,  but  the  men  were  too  far  gone  in 
beef  and  sour  wine  to  pay  any  attention  to  lessons  in 
good  breeding.  As  might  be  expected,  the  leader  in 
this  grab-game  grumbled  at  his  bill,  declared  he  was 
charged  for  more  wine  than  he  had  drunk,  and  laid 
himself  out  in  abusing  Swiss  taverns  in  general,  and 
this  in  particular,  till  the  postman's  horn  summoned 
him  and  the  rest  to  their  seats. 

The  scenery  improves  as  we  ascend  the  Rhine. 
The  banks  are  steeper,  the  hills  are  bolder ;  the  water 
rushes  more  rapidly  through  winding  channels,  and 
the  people  we  meet  bear  more  characteristic  features 
of  another  country.  It  is  a  Catholic  holiday.  We 
are  meeting  the  peasantry  in  great  numbers,  dressed 
in  their  best  clothes,  some  of  them  gaily  ;  blooming 
lasses  in  snow  white  muslin  and  no  bonnets,  but 
sweet  pretty  head-dresses  and  pink  ribbons  tied  as 
pretty  girls  in  all  countries  know  how  to  tie  them ; 
they  are  gathering  at  the  churches,  and  as  they 
wend  their  way  through  green  fields  to  the  highway, 
they  give  a  romantic  air  to  the  rural  picture  we 
are  looking  on.  Many  of  them  are  paired,  and  as 
they  saunter  along  hand  in  hand,  and  now  and  then 
with  an  arm  thrown  lovingly  round  the  waist,  we 
know  them  as  probably  paired  for  life,  and  send  up 


BASLE   AND   THE   KHINE.  17 

a  little  prayer  that  they  may  jog  along  as  pleasantly 
all  the  way  through. 

"  The  finest  Cataract  in  Europe  "  is  at  Schaffhaus- 
sen.  We  arrived  at  sunset,  just  in  time  to  see  the 
falls  before  the  last  rays  had  faded  into  night.  The 
Rhine  is  here  300  feet  broad,  and  after  foaming  and 
rushing  furiously  for  a  mile  or  two  it  takes  a  bold 
leap  over  a  shelving  precipice  sixty  feet  high,  and 
plunges  into  a  bay  of  waters  below,  boiling  like  a 
mighty  caldron  and  sending  up  perpetual  clouds  of 
spray.  In  the  midst  of  the  cataract  two  columnar 
rocks  rise  perpendicularly,  dividing  the  fall  into 
three  unequal  parts.  One  of  these  rocks  is  clothed 
with  shrubbery  and  the  steep  banks  on  either  side 
are  lined  with  trees.  A  castellated  mansion  crowns 
the  summit  on  one  side,  and  several  buildings  grace 
the  other,  so  that  nature  and  art  have  here  combined 
to  make  a  picture  of  wild  romantic  beauty,  in  which 
there  is  enough  of  grandeur  to  entitle  it,  at  times,  to 
be  called  sublime.  Certainly  we  should  so  pronounce 
it,  if  we  had  not  seen  the  waterfalls  of  America. 

The  only  place  to  see  a  fall  to  perfection  is  directly 
in  front  of  it.  We  are  told  to  cross  the  river  and  go 
up  the  hill  to  a  jutting  crag  and  there  in  the  midst  of 
the  spray,  contemplate  the  "  hell  of  waters,"  roaring 
and  tumbling  madly  on  their  way  into  the  dreadful 
deeps  below.  We  went  over,  but  nothing  satisfies 


18  SWITZERLAND. 

me  but  to  see  a  waterfall  from  its  base.  It  was  an 
easy  matter  to  induce  two  stout  oarsmen  to  put  the 
nose  of  their  skiff  into  the  teeth  of  the  cataract,  and 
drive  her  up  as  near  to  the  falling  torrent  as  their 
strength  would  fetch  her.  I  knew  the  strong 
current  would  send  the  little  shell  down  stream,  like 
an  arrow,  when  they  crossed  the  eddies  and  struck 
the  channel ;  and  so  it  proved.  "We  toiled  on  till  the 
spray-like  rain  covered  us,  and  there  we  looked  up 
at  the  white  waves  as  they  marched  in  fury  down 
upon  us,  threatening  to  overwhelm  the  frail  bark 
tossing  on  the  surface  as  a  shell.  When  we  had 
studied  the  scene  from  various -points  of  view,  we 
returned  to  the  shore  and  met  a  party  of  English 
gentlemen  and  ladies  at  Castle  Worth,  which  com- 
mands a  fine  sight  of  the  falls.  "  How  does  it 
compare  with  Niagara,"  one  of  them  enquired  of  me. 
I  replied,  "  "We  do  not  love  to  make  comparisons 
between  these  beautiful  scenes  and  those  we  have 
left  at  home.  Nature  there  is  more  majestic  in  her 
works,  and  there  is  no  sight  on  earth  where  so  much 
majesty  crowned  with  beauty  is  revealed  as  in  the 
cataract  of  Niagara.  You  see  that  hill  which  bounds 
this  valley  on  the  west  and  that  higher  one  which 
shuts  it  in  above  where  the  Rhine  comes  down  :  those 
hills  are  not  so  far  asunder  as  the  river  of  Niagara  is 
at  the  moment  it  falls!  It  is  a  lake  broader  than 


BASLE   AND  THE   BHINE.     .  19 

this  beautiful  vale  and  the  precipice  to  whose  brow 
it  comes  is  loftier  than  the  turrets  of  that  castle,  now 
fading  from  our  view.  It  comes  not  creeping  down 
the  rocks  like  that,,  but  gathering  itself  up  and  with 
one  mighty  leap,  clearing  the  barrier,  it  pours  its 
awful  flood,  as  if  an  ocean  had  been  spilled,  into  the 
abyss  below.  In  the  moonlight  and  in  the  sunshine 
rainbows  are  twined  upon  its  brow,  and  garlands  of 
diamonds  hang  from  the  summit  to  the  base,  in 
beauty  indescribable." 

"We  climbed  up  to  the  hotel  "Weber,  which  stands 
on  the  brow  of  the  hill,  and  the  good  man  of  the 
house  gave  us  a  chamber  in  full  view  of  the  falls, 
where  we  went  to  sleep  with  the  roar  of  the  tumult 
of  many  waters  in  our  ears,  making  music  the  last 
we  heard  at  night,  and  the  first  in  the  morning. 
2Tow  the  grandeur  of  the  distant  Alps  began  to 
appear.  Long  ranges,  peak  towering  above  peak, 
are  seen ;  the  names  of  some  of  them  are  familiar,  as 
they  stand  there  inviting  us  to  come  to  their  feet. 
Let  us  go. 

Aug.  16. — Refreshed  by  a  sweet  sleep,  and  ready 
for  another  fine  day,  we  were  taken  after  breakfast 
to  the  village  of  Schafthausen,  where  a  small  steam- 
boat received  us  for  Constance.  The  current  of  the 
Rhine  above  the  falls  is  not  so  swift  as  below,  but 


20  SWITZERLAND. 

the  waters  are  the  same  deep  green,  increased 
by  the  reflection  of  the  beautiful  sloping  banks, 
covered  with  luxuriant  vineyards.  The  vines  are 
trained  on  short  upright  poles,  not  on  arbors  as  with 
us,  and  at  a  distance  they  look  not  unlike  our  corn 
fields.  But  the  river  is  so  narrow  here  that  we  seem 
to  be  in  the  midst  of  them,  and  enjoy  the  labors  of 
the  dressers,  as  they  work  in  the  sun.  Now  we  are 
passing  the  old  nunneries  of  Paradies,  and  Kather- 
inethal,  and  that  ancient  castle  above  the  town  of 
Stein  is  Hohenliugen,  once  the  abode  of  the  masters 
of  all  this  soil.  Here  is  the  island  of  fieichenau, 
where  the  remains  of  an  ancient  monastery  are  seen, 
and  on  the  right  as  we  are  ascending  is  the  castle  of 
Gottlieberi)  where  John  Huss  and  Jerome  of  Prague 
were  confined  in  gloomy  dungeons  from  which  they 
were  dragged  to  trial  and  death. 

And  this  brings  us  to  CONSTANCE. 


CHAPTER    H. 


CONSTANCE     AND     ZURICH. 

A  decaying  Town — the  Kaufhaus — Famous  Council — Dungeon  of  Huss — 
Scene  of  Martyrdom — House  of  Huss — Lake  Constance — the  Hide  to 
Zurich— Villages— the  Valley— Hotel  Baur— a  Swiss  Cottage— the  Fur- 
nishing—Miles Coverdale— Zwingle— Lavater's  Grave— the  Library— Sun- 
set View  from  the  Botanical  Garden. 

ORTY  thousand   people  once    lived 
together   within  the   walls    of    Con- 
stance.    Now  less   than   seven   thou- 
sand  are  here.      But    the    old    and 
curious  houses  still  stand,   many  of 
them   without  inhabitants,    and    the 
whole  city  apparently  asleep  at  noon- 
day   as   we    entered.      The    historic 
intere  t  hanging  about  Constance   is 
very  great,  and  will  always  render  it  attractive  to 
the  traveller.  On  the  borders  of  the  lake  of  Constance, 
and  but  a  very  few  feet  from  the  landing,  we  saw 
(21) 


22  SWITZERLAND. 

the  Kaufhaus,  built  in  1338,  and  memorable  as  the 
place  in  which  the  great  "  Council  of  Constance  "  sat 
in  MM-IS,  whose  decision  for  good  and  for  evil  were 
so  momentous  in  the  Church  of  .Rome.  We  walked 
up  the  solid  steps  into  the  second  story,  one  wide  low 
room  supported  by  heavy  wooden  pillars,  and  with  a 
rough  plank  floor  like  that  of  a  barn.  Here,  in  this 
room,  more  than  four  hundred  years  ago  were 
assembled  from  all  parts  of  the  Christian  world,  no 
less  than  thirty  cardinals,  four  .patriarchs,  twenty 
archbishops,  one  hundred  and  fifty  bishops,  two 
hundred  professors  of  theology,  besides  princes, 
ambassadors,  civil  and  ecclesiastical,  abbots,  priors, 
and  inferior  churchmen.  The  chair  in  which  the 
Emperor  Sigismund  sat,  and  the  chair  in  which  the 
Pope  presided,  stand  as  they  stood  then,  and  various 
relics  of  those  times,  historically  associated  with  the 
Council,  are  gathered,  forming  a  Museum  of  unusual 
interest.  Before  this  council  John  Huss  and  Jerome 
of  Prague  were  brought  from  their  dungeons,  and 
though  the  Council  was  assembled  professedly  to 
reform  the  church,  it  condemned  these  holy  men  to 
the  flames. 

The  old  Cathedral  is  here,  where  those  martyrs 
stood  when  the  sentence  of  death  was  passed  upon 
them,  and  the  model  of  the  dungeon  not  three  feet 
wide  and  ten  feet  long,  with  the  identical  door  and 


CONSTANCE   AND   ZUKICH.  .  23 

window  in  it,  where  Huss  was  confined  for  many 
weary  months.  Here  too  is  the  hurdle  on  which  he 
was  dragged  to  the  place  of  execution,  and  when  we 
had  examined  these  and  many  interesting  objects 
which  a  Catholic  claiming  to  be  the  friend  of  Huss 
showed  us,  we  walked  out  of  the  old  chamber,  and 
following  the  long  street  to  the  Huss  Gate,  found 
beyond  the  walls  of  the  town,  in  the  midst  of  a  gar- 
den, the  spot  where  these  blessed  men  were  caught 
up  by  chariots  of  fire  into  heaven.  An  old  Capuchin 
convent,  deserted  now,  is  standing  near  it,  and  so 
peaceful  and  fertile  seemed  these  fields  as  we  stood 
in  the  midst  of  the  fruits  and  flowers,  it  was  hard  to 
believe  an  infuriated  mob  had  once  rioted  here,  and 
religious  persecution  kindled  the  fires  of  martyrdom 
on  the  flesh  of  men  of  whom  the  world  was  not 
worthy. 

In  the  Council  Chamber  are  wax  figures  of  these 

martyrs,  bearing  the  records  which  I  copied.    "  Jerome 

of  Prague,  called  Faulfisch,  a  learned  man  of  great 

celebrity,  the  friend  and  defender  of  John  Huss,  born 

at  Prague,  March  14,  1362 ;  burned  alive  in  conse- 

uence   of  the  order  of  the  Council  of  Constance, 

lay  30,  1417,  in  the  55th  year  of  his  age.     Jerome 

ilked  to  the  place  of  punishment,  as  though  he 

nt  to  a  place  of  rejoicing.     When  the  executioner 

s  going  to  set  fire  to  the  pile  behind  him,  Jerome 


24  •  SWITZERLAND. 

said  to  him,  '  Come  here,  light  it  before  me,  for  if  I 
had  feared  the  fire,  I  would  not  have  been  here.' " 

"John  Huss,  of  Housenitts  in  Bohemia,  born 
July  6,  13 73,  rector  of  the  University  and  lecturer  at 
Prague,  burned  alive  at  Constance  in  consequence  of 
the  order  of  the  Council,  July  6,  1415,  in  the  42d 
year  of  his  age.  His  last  words  were,  '  I  resign  my 
soul  to  the  hands  of  my  God  and  my  Redeemer.' " 

Returning  from  the  place  of  execution,  we  paused 
in  front  of  the  house  in  which  John  Huss  lodged 
before  he  was  imprisoned.  A  rude  image  in  stone  of 
the  Reformer,  but  a  strongly  marked  likeness,  was  on 
the  outside.  Every  one  we  met  could  tell  us  which 
way  to  go  to  find  the  Huss  house,  and  though  there 
are  but  a  few  hundred  Protestants  in  the  whole  city, 
the  idea  seemed  to  be  general  that  a  good  man  was 
wrongfully  and  cruelly  murdered  when  Huss  was 
burned. 

In  the  after  part  of  the  day,  as  the  shades  of  even- 
ing were  drawing  around  us,  we  had  a  boat  and  went 
out  on  the  Lake,  and  skirted  along  its  shores,  passing 
a  large  monastery  where  a  few  brothers  of  the  Augus- 
tine order  are  still  maintained,  and  a  few  miles 
beyond  is  a  long  and  beautifully  planted  nunnery 
which  was  suppressed  in  1838,  and  converted  into  a 
hospital,  though  the  sisters  are  permitted  to  live  and 
die  there,  without  adding  to  their  number.  This  is 


CONSTANCE   AND   ZTJKIOH.  25 

tlie  largest  of  all  the  Swiss  lakes,  and  lies  1255  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea.  We  floated  around  until 
the  evening  became  so  cool  that  we  were  glad  to  go 
ashore.  Passing  an  ancient-looking  church  of  which 
the  door  was  standing  open,  we  walked  in  :  a  solitary 
lamp  was  burning  near  the  altar,  and  the  sound  of 
voices  led  us  down  the  aisle  to  a  door  opening  into 
one  of  the  cloisters  where  a  group  of  boys  were  on 
their  knees,  repeating  prayers  in  concert,  and  vieing 
with  each  other  in  the  loudness  and  sing-song  tone 
with  which  they  performed  the  service.  "We  returned 
to  our  hotel  by  the  light  of  lamps  hung  in  the  middle 
of  a  chain  stretched  across  the  street,  and  went  early 
to  bed  as  we  were  early  to  rise. 

Aug.  17. — "We  went  by  diligence  to  Zurich  to-day. 
The  ride  was  pleasant.  Some  of  the  Swiss  towns  we 
passed  through  were  very  pretty,  showing  so  much 
taste  in  the  grounds  about  the  houses,  that  one  was 
sure  there  was  a  pleasant  home.  Part  of  the  way 
was  called  the  Roman  road,  and  the  remains  of  the 
ancient  presence  of  that  people  are  still  visible.  The 
river  Thur  flows  along  in  the  valley  of  the  road,  and 
its  banks  are  lined  with  frequent  mansions.  Chateaus 
of  elegance  are  on  the  hill-sides,  and  just  after 
leaving  Constance  we  passed  one  in  which  the  pres- 
ent Emperor  of  France  once  resided,  and  which  still 

2 


26  SWITZERLAND. 

belongs  to  him.  Frauenfeld  is  a  fine  town  where  we 
paused  to  dine,  and  I  there  celebrated  the  day  as  an 
anniversary  that  I  am  quite  sure  was  not  forgotten 
elsewhere.  Winterthur  is  really  a  beautiful  city. 
Its  streets  intersect  one  another  at  right  angles,  and 
each  intersection  has  an  arched  gateway,  surmounted 
by  a  tower  with  a  clock.  As  we  advance  into  Swit- 
zerland, the  scenery  becomes  more  commanding : 
now  and  then  a  sharp  blue  peak  shoots  up  into  the 
sky,  and  as  the  road  descends  we  lose  sight  of  it 
again,  to  see  the  same  and  others  as  we  rise.  At  last 
as  the  day  was  closing,  we  came  suddenly  upon 
ZURICH,  the  capital  of  the  canton  of  the  same  name, 
the  most  thriving  city  in  Switzerland,  and  rejoicing 
in  the  midst  of  one  of  the  most  beautiful  valleys  in 
the  world.  I  should  be  deemed  extravagant  were  I 
to  speak  of  it  as  it  appeared  to  me  when  descending 
through  vineyards  and  gardens,  and  among  elegant 
mansions,  to  the  shores  of  the  lake  on  which  this  city 
stands.  The  Hotel  Baur  is  the  largest  and  best  in 
the  town,  but  it  was  crowded,  and  the  gentlemanly 
landlord  said  the  best  he  could  do  for  us  was  to  give 
us  rooms  in  a  private  house  adjoining  his  own.  To 
this  we  assented  with  the  more  readiness,  as  it  would 
bring  us  at  once  into  the  residence  of  the  Swiss,  and 
we  could  see  more  of  their  indoor  life  than  the  hotel 
would  furnish.  There  is  no  carpet  on  the  floor, 


CONSTANCE   AND   ZURICH.  27 

except  a  beautiful  square  on  which  the  centre-table 
with  a  pot  of  flowers  is  standing.  A  piano  with  music 
and  books  is  on  one  side,  a  sofa  covered  with  white 
dimity  on  the  other.  The  chamber  looks  out  on  a 
square,  and  the  windows  fill  the  entire  front  of  the 
room,  but  rich  lace  curtains  hang  before  them,  and 
some  of  the  panes  of  glass  are  replaced  with  porce- 
lain pictures  of  exceeding  loveliness.  Before  the 
mirror  is  suspended  a  vase,  like  a  pendant  lamp,  in 
which  a  plant  is  growing,  with  its  leaves  as  on  silver 
threads  falling  gracefully  on  every  side  of  it.  Ano- 
ther flower-pot  has  a  plant  trained  upon  a  flat  frame, 
in  the  centre  of  which  is  one  of  these  porcelain  pic- 
tures through  which  the  light  is  streaming.  Around 
the  walls  are  many  engravings  in  neat  frames,  and  on 
the  mantel  and  side-tables  are  various  ornaments, 
chiefly  curiously  carved  figures  in  wood,  or  beautiful 
glass-work,  all  displaying  the  taste  of  their  possessor, 
and  telling  us  all  the  time  that  these  are  the  domestic 
precincts  of  some  one  who  has  let  the  lodgings  for  a 
season.  These  delicate  cushions  of  pink  silk  with 
white  lace  edging,  assure  me  that  a  lady  is  the  right- 
ful tenant ;  but  I  am  tired,  and  shall  slip  into  the 
linen  sheets.  Good  night. 

Aug.  18. — To-day  we  have  been  exploring  Zurich, 
a  city  famous  in  the  history  of  the  Reformation  and 


28  SWITZERLAND. 

dear  to  every  Protestant  heart.  Here  the  exiles  of 
England,  when  Bloody  Mary  was  on  the  throne, 
found  a  hiding-place  from  her  bitter  persecutions. 
Here  the  first  entire  English  version  of  the  Bible,  by 
Miles  Coverdale,  was  printed  in  1535.  From  my 
window  I  see  the  cathedral  where  Zwingle,  the 
soldier  of  the  Reformation  who  resisted  unto  blood 
striving  against  sin,  once  thundered  the  wrath  of 
heaven  upon  the  abominations  of  the  Church  of 
Rome.  Here  is  the  house  yet  standing  in  which  he 
passed  the  last  six  years  of  his  noble  life.  The  clock 
of  St.  Peter  is  now  striking.  This  church  had  for  its 
pastor  for  twenty-three  years  the  celebrated  Lavater, 
author  of  the  work  on  Physiognomy.  He  was  born 
here,  and  in  the  door  of  the  parsonage  which  I  vis- 
ited to-day,  he  was  shot  by  a  brutal  soldier,  when  the 
town  was  taken  by  the  French  in  1799.  He  had 
given  wine  and  money  to  his  murderer  but  a  few 
minutes  before :  and  though  he  lingered  for  three 
months,  he  refused  to  give  up  the  name  of  the  assassin 
to  the  French  commander,  who  desired  to  punish  the 
atrocious  deed.  I  plucked  a  flower  and  a  sprig  of 
myrtle  from  his  grave  in  the  humble  churchyard  of 
St.  Anne,  where  a  simple  tablet  to  his  memory  bears 
this  inscription  :  "  J.  C.  Lavater's  Grave.  Born  15th 
Nov.  1741.  Died  2d  Jan.  1801."  In  the  town 
library  of  45,000  volumes,  admirably  arranged,  is  a 


CONSTANCE  AND  ZURICH.  29 

fine  marble  bust  of  Lavater,  and  also  of  Pestalozzi, 
with  portraits  of  Zwingle  and  many  other  reformers. 
But  I  was  more  interested  in  reading  several  manu- 
script letters  in  Latin,  by  Lady  Jane  Grey,  Joanna 
Graia,  addressed  to  Bullinger.  The  beautiful  execu- 
tion of  the  writing,  the  quotations  in  Greek  and 
Hebrew,  the  spirit  they  breathed,  and  the  fate  of 
their  lovely  author,  gave  them  sacred  interest. 
Here,  too,  in  his  own  Bible  is  the  family  record  of 
Zwingle  and  his  wife  Anna  Bullinger ;  and  many 
Greek  and  Arabic  manuscripts  which  Dr.  Raffles  or 
Dr.  Sprague  would  give  a  heap  of  guineas  to  get. 

It  is  said  that  the  sunset  view  of  the  city,  valley, 
lake,  and  mountains  is  not  surpassed  by  any  scene  in 
Switzerland,  We  had  been  so  busy  in  these  old  and 
interesting  scenes,  that  the  day  was  gone  before  we 
knew  it,  and  as  we  walked  out  to  climb  the  hill,  from 
which  the  view  is  to  be  had,  we  feared  the  sun  had 
already  set.  Part  of  the  old  rampart  of  the  town 
remains,  an  elevated  mound  which  has  been  taste- 
fully laid  out  with  walks  and  planted  with  shrubs 
and  flowers,  for  a  botanical  garden.  On  the  summit 
fine  shade-trees  stand,  and  here  is  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  promenades  in  the  world.  The  sun  was 
half  an  hour  high,  and  just  as  we  reached  the  hill- 
top it  began  to  come  down  from  behind  a  dense 
cloud,  like  a  mass  of  molten  gold  distilled  into  a 


80  SWITZERLAND. 

transparent  globe.  Its  liquid  form  appeared  to 
tremble  as  it  came  forth ;  but  the  face  of  nature 
smiled  in  his  returning  beams.  The  nearer  summits 
first  caught  the  brightness,  and  then  the  more  dis- 
tant, invisible  before,  now  stood  forth  in  their 
majesty,  shining  in  the  sunlight.  Below  me  lay  the 
lake  like  a  silver  sea.  And  all  along  its  shores  and 
far  up  the  hill-sides,  thousands  of  white  cottages  and 
villas,  the  abodes  of  wealth  and  peace  and  love, 
sweet  Swiss  homes,  rejoiced  in  the  sunshine,  as  they 
sent  up  their  evening  psalm  of  praise  from  ten  thous- 
and happy  hearts  to  God.  A  hundred  years  hence 
our  valleys  may  be  so  peopled  :  but  we  have  none 
now  like  this.  For  a  thousand  years  these  hill-sides 
have  been  tilled,  and  all  these  acres,  wrested  from 
the  forest,  and  subdued  by  the  hand  of  industry  and 
art,  have  been  planted  with  corn  and  wine,  neat  and 
many  splendid  mansions  have  been  reared  in  every 
nook  and  on  every  sunny  slope,  and  now  on  all  sides 
the  panorama  seems  to  present  the  very  spot  where 
learning,  religion,  taste  and  peace  would  delight  to 
find  a  refuge  and  a  home.  It  is  now  sunset  in  the 
valley.  The  lake  is  dark.  The  last  ray  has  played 
on  the  spire  of  St.  Peter  and  the  Minster.  But  the 
dome  of  the  Dodi  still  gleams  in  the  sun,  and  the 
far-off  Glarus  and  Uri  are  reflecting  his  lingering 
beams. 


CONSTANCE   AND   ZURICH.  31 

They  are  gone.  The  rose-tints  have  faded  from 
the  loftiest  summit  of  snow,  and  the  sun  has  gone 
down  to  rise  on  those  dearer  to  me  than  his  light,  in 
a  distant  land. 


CHAPTER  m. 

THEMOUNTAIN     TOPS. 

Climbing  the  Utleberg—  Fat  woman  on  a  donkey—  First  Alpine  view—  The 
valley  ,  lake  and  hills  —  Haunts  of  Lavater,  Zimmerman,  Klopstock,  Gessner 
—The  work  of  Escher—  Coming  Down—  Baur  Hotel—  Lake  Zurich—  Lake 
Zug  —  Golda  —  Land-side—  Ruin  —  Ascent  of  the  Higi  —  The  best  route  — 
Chapels  by  the  way  —  Mary  of  the  Snow  —  Convent  and  monks  —  The 
Summit—  The  Company—  Change  of  Temperature—  Sunset—  Supper— 
NighWSunrise—  Glory  of  the  view—  Getting  down  again—  Fat  man 
done  up. 

AUGUST  19. 


challenged  me  this  morn- 
ing to  walk  to  the  heights  of  Utle- 
berg, on  the  Albis  ridge,  to  the  west 
of  Zurich.      The  Utleberg  is  only- 
three  thousand  feet  high  !  and  that 
is  a  small  matter  in   Switzerland. 
After  a  cup  of  coffee  we  set  off  at 
eight  in  the  morning,  and  without 
guide  or  mules  we  wandered  out  of 
the  town,  across  the  river,  and  through  beautiful 
vineyards,  with  luxuriant  grapes,  not  ripe  enough  to 
be  tempting.     "We  climbed  along  up  the  hill-side. 
(32) 


THE  MOUNTAIN   TOPS.  33 

Other  parties  were  on  their  way,  some  German,  some 
French,  some  English,  none  American  but  ourselves. 
At  the  foot  of  the  hill  we  met  a  flock  of  milk  white 
goats,  which  their  owner  was  driving  down  from  the 
mountains  to  sell  in  town ;  beautiful  creatures ;  for 
the  first,  we  learned  that  beauty  could  be  affirmed 
of  a  goat.      Here  the  lame  and  the  lazy  supplied 
themselves  with  mules,  and  a  comical  figure  of  a  fat 
German  lady  on  a  miserable  little  donkey,  will  be  an 
amusing  memory  for  many  a  day.      "When  she  was 
half  way  up  the  mountain  she  looked  so  jaded  with 
the  jerking,  that  we  thought  she  would  have  suffered 
less  if  she  had  carried  the  donkey.      "We   cut  stout 
sticks  in  the  forest,  and  pushed  on,  stopping  now  and 
then  to  pick  flowers,  or  to  examine  a  leech  or  a  lizard, 
in  the  pools  and  streams  by  the  side  of  the  path, 
resting  when  tired,  but  pressing  onward  and  upward, 
steadily  and  slowly ;  encouraged  often  by  the  splendor 
of  the  scene  below,  as  we  caught  it  from  some  open- 
ing in  the  woods,  and  feeling  that  we  had  the  day 
before  us  and  nothing  else  to  do.     The  ascent  became 
steeper  as  we  pressed  along,  and  it  doubtless  seemed 
steeper  to  us  the  more  we  were  wearied  with  the  way, 
but  we  made  it  in  less  than  two  hours,   winding 
around  the  mighty  rock  that  caps  the    apex,   and 
entered  the  house  of  refreshment  before  we  looked 
off  into  the  world  below. 

2* 


34  SWITZERLAND. 

I  had  not  felt  myself  in  Switzerland  till  on  this 
summit,  we  saw  for  the  first  time  a  real  Alpine  view. 
It  has  points  of  view  peculiar  to  itself,  nationally 
characteristic;  there  is  nothing  got  up  on  the  same 
scale  and  the  same  plan  in  any  other  part  of  God's 
great  world.  Why  it  pleased  him  to  heap  these  hills 
in  such  "  confusion  unconfused,"  in  this  little  country, 
we  do  not  know,  but  they  who  would  see  the  most 
remarkable  of  his  works  in  mountain-building,  must 
come  here  and  climb  up  to  some  of  the  highest  peaks, 
where  they  can  take  in  at  once  as  much  of  the 
majesty  of  the  scene  as  each  man's  mind  can  hold. 
Rankin  and  I  reasoned  some  time  on  the  question 
whether  these  lofty  ranges  were  clouds  in  the  heavens 
or  mountains  propping  up  the  sky.  Now  the  problem 
is  solved.  What  we  thought  might  be  white  clouds, 
are  the  snowy  ridges  of  the  distant  hills,  and  the  dark 
blue  mountains  are  now  facing  us  as  from  one  height 
across  the  valley  we  see  them  without  looking  up. 

The  vale  of  Zurich  lies  at  our  feet.  The  lake  for 
twenty-five  miles,  and  with  a  breadth  of  not  more 
than  three,  stretches  itself  more  like  a  river  than  a 
lake,  through  the  valley  to  the  south  as  far  as  we  can 
see  ;  and  the  hills  rise  very  gradually  from  the  water 
affording  the  most  delightful  grounds  for  vineyards  ; 
while  scores  of  villages,  each  with  its  church  spire, 
are  scattered  on  each  side,  and  between  the  villages 


THE   MOUH1ATN   TOPS.  35 

so  many  dwellings  are  seen,  that  the  whole  valley, 
with  its  dense  population,  seems  but  one  great 
family ;  certainly,  it  is  one  neighborhood,  where 
industry,  religion,  intelligence  and  happiness,  ought 
to  flourish  and  have  their  reward.  Thalwyl  may  be 
seen  away  to  the  south,  near  to  which  Lavater  wrote 
a  portion  of  his  work  on  Physiognomy;  and  still 
farther  on  is  Bichtensweil,  where  Zimmerman  lived, 
whose  work  on  "  Solitude  "  celebrates  the  praises  of 
this  spot.  So  does  Klopstock  in  his  ode,  and  Gessner, 
the  Swiss  poet,  who  was  born  in  Zurich  and  has  a 
monument  reared  to  his  memory  in  one  of  its 
delightful  promenades.  There,  too,  is  Stafa,  where 
Goethe  once  resided,  and  Rapperschuyl,  with  the 
longest  bridge  in  the  world,  it  is  said,  four  thousand 
eight  hundred  feet,  or  three-fourths  of  a  mile ;  but  I 
think  the  Cayuga  bridge  is  longer.  There  lies  a 
beautiful  islet,  in  which  Ulrich  Yon  Hutten,  the 
friend  of  Luther,  found  a  refuge  and  a  grave.  Look 
away  to  Usnach,  and  you  see  a  valley  out  of  which 
the  river  Linth  is  flowing ;  connected  with  it  is  a 
remarkable  story.  Yesterday  in  the  churchyard  of 
St.  Anne,  we  saw  a  massive  rough  stone,  with  a  pol- 
ished spot  in  the  midst  of  it,  on  which  was  engraved 
in  gilt  letters,  "  Escher,  Von  der  Linth,"  or  Escher  of 
the  Linth.  The  title  had  plainly  been  given  him  for 
some  work  connected  with  the  Swiss  river  of  that 


36  SWITZERLAND. 

name.  Some  thirty  or  forty  years  ago  the  river, 
coining  down  from  the  glaciers,  and  bringing  with  it 
a  vast  quantity  of  stones  and  soil,  had  become  so 
much  obstructed,  that  the  valley  was  repeatedly  over- 
flowed, terrible  pestilences  followed,  and  the  inhab- 
itants swept  off  in  great  numbers.  Conrad  Escher 
suggested  to  the  government  the  idea  of  digging  a 
new  bed  for  the  river,  and  turning  its  waters  off  into 
another  lake,  the  Wallenstadt,  where  its  deposits 
would  be  received  without  injury.  This  lake  he  con- 
nected with  that  of  Zurich  by  a  navigable  canal,  and 
so  complete  was  the  success  of  all  his  suggestions, 
that  he  is  looked  upon  as  a  national  benefactor.  Just 
there,  at  the  opening  of  the  valley,  a  tablet  has  been 
placed  in  the  solid  rock,  with  an  appropriate  inscrip- 
tion. But  that  is  not  all.  Hard  by  it  is  an  institution 
for  the  education  of  the  poor  of  the  canton,  which  is 
called  after  his  name  ;  and  a  factory  where  the  Linth 
colony  are  at  work,  who  were  brought  here  and  sup- 
ported while  the  great  work  was  in  progress  on  which 
they  were  employed. 

Whichever  way  the  eye  turns  from  this  point  of 
observation,  it  finds  something  interesting  or  wonder- 
ful on  which  to  rest.  We  are  now  in  the  morning  of 
our  tour  in  Switzerland,  and  have  been  assured  again 
and  again  that  this  is  mere  beauty,  compared  with 
the  glory  that  awaits  us  hereafter.  But  those  mighty 


THE   MOUNTAIN   TOPS.  37 

mountains  crowned  with  eternal  snow,  and  piercing 
the  very  skies  with  their  sharp  peaks,  or  supporting- 
the  heavens  with  their  broad  white  shoulders,  are 
certainly  most  majestic  works  of  God,  and  what  more 
and  greater  there  can  be,  it  is  beyond  imagination  to 
conceive.  Not  many  travellers  climb  up  here.  They 
are  in  such  haste  to  see  the  Rigi  and  the  Passes,  and 
the  Yale  of  Chamouni,  that  they  do  not  give  a  day  to 
Zurich,  the  most  classic  and  picturesque  of  any  of  the 
cantons  of  Switzerland.  An  English  gentleman  and 
lady  are  up  here  with  me,  who  have  just  been 
traversing  this  whole  country  on  foot.  They  are  full 
of  delight  with  the  view,  though  they  have  seen 
everything  else  that  is  to  be  seen. 

The  only  incident  to  give  variety  to  our  return  was 
losing  the  way,  and  making  the  walk  a  mile  longer ; 
but  that  was  of  small  account  to  Swiss  pedestrians, 
ambitious  of  doing  great  things,  and  making  nothing 
of  climbing  a  mountain,  and  coming  down  before 
dinner. 

We  are  at  Zurich  now.  Mr.  Baur  has  the  most 
elegant  "  Hotel  and  Pension "  on  the  verge  of  the 
Lake  of  Zurich,  that  I  have  seen  in  Europe.  He 
calls  this,  as  well  as  the  Hotel  in  front  of  the  Post 
Office,  after  his  own  name,  and  gives  them  a  degree 
of  personal  attention  unequalled  by  any  landlord  into 
whose  hands  it  was  ever  my  pleasure  to  fall.  In 


38  SWITZERLAND. 

most  of  the  hotels  in  Europe,  the  proprietor  keeps 
himself  out  of  sight,  and  trusts  the  entire  management 
of  affairs  to  his  assistants,  the  head  waiter  being  the 
most  of  a  man  you  are  ever  able  to  find.  Mr.  Barn- 
is  everywhere  at  once  :  receives  his  guests  on  their 
arrival,  makes  himself  acquainted  with  their  wants, 
and  sees  that  they  are  attended  to  without  fail.  His 
new  house  on  the  lake  with  a  charming  garden 
in  front,  is  one  of  the  most  delightful  places  for 
a  weary  traveller  to  rest  in  for  a  few  days. 

There  are  many  routes  to  the  Rigi.  Of  course  we 
went  by  the  best.  Every  traveller  does  ;  at  least  he 
thinks  so,  and  that  often  amounts  to  the  same  thing. 
But  in  this  as  in  every  other  road  up  hill  in  life,  be- 
fore a  man  gets  half  way  up,  he  wishes  he  had  taken 
the  other.  So  it  matters  little,  if  he  only  reaches  the 
top  at  last.  The  steamboat  on  the  Zurigsee,  leaves  at 
eight  in  the  morning,  and  at  least  a  hundred  pas- 
sengers crowded  the  little  thing,  when  with  a  lovely 
breeze  and  a  fine  clear  day  we  were  off  for  the  Rigi. 

The  glory  of  the  Rigi  is  at  sunset  and  sunrise,  and 
then  there  is  none  unless  the  sky  is  clear.  Nor  are 
you  sure  of  a  clear  sky  up  there,  if  it  were  ever 
so  bright  when  you  left  the  base.  The  group  of 
mountains  known  by  the  name  of  Rigi,  of  which  the 
highest  peak  is  alone  the  object  of  interest  to  the 
traveller,  stand  so  isolated  by  the  lakes  of  Zug  and 


THE   MOUNTAIN   TOPS.  39 

Lucerne  from  the  rest  of  the  ridges  and  ranges,  that 
the  view  from  the  summit,  especially  at  the  close  of 
the  day  and  at  sunrise,  is  unequalled.  It  stands  up 
there  alone,  as  an  observatory  from  which  to  see  the 
others.  An  hour  on  the  boat  brought  us  to  the  village 
of  Horgen,  where  we  were  carried  by  stages  across 
the  country  to  Zug,  on  a  lake  of  the  same  name.  At 
Horgen  about  sixty  passengers  were  .landed,  and  we 
found  that  our  tickets  had  been  numbered  as  they 
were  given  to  us  on  board  the  boat,  and  we  were  to 
be  seated  in  the  coaches  accordingly.  My  number 
was  forty-seven,  very  near  the  end  of  the  list,  but  it 
turned  up  a  very  good  seat,  on  the  shady  side  of  the 
stage,  a  very  important  matter  in  the  middle  of  a  hot 
day  for  a  ride  of  three  hours.  Not  a  winding  but 
very  much  of  a  zig-zag  road,  led  us  over  the  hill 
country  that  divides  the  lakes.  Sometimes  we  had 
delightful  views,  deep  ravines  through  which  the 
mountain  streams  were  finding  their  way ;  on  the 
crest,  the  Rigi  and  Pilatus  first  meet  the  eye,  and 
then  rapidly  we  make  our  way  to  the  borders  of  the 
lake,  on  which  stands  the  little  town  of  Zug,  the  capi- 
tal of  the  Canton  of  that  name,  the  least  among  the 
tribes.  After  a  hasty  dinner  at  the  tavern  we  em- 
barked on  another  steamboat,  and  still  smaller  than 
the  one  on  the  Zurich  Lake.  What  a  lovely  sheet  of 
water  is  this  Lake  Zug!  It  lies  eighteen  hundred 


40  SWITZERLAND. 

feet  higher  than  the  sea ;  and  all  around  it  except  at  the 
head,  the  richly  cultivated  shores  are  sloping  away 
from  the  water's  edge.  But  just  before  us,  as  we 
are  going  South,  the  noble  E,igi  rises  from  the  shore 
of  the  Lake,  and  in  the  clear  water  the  whole  of  that 
vast  mountain  clothed  with  verdure  to  the  very  sum- 
mit is  reflected  so  perfectly,  that  instead  of  looking 
up  to  study  the  ridges  and  precipices  and  forests  and 
flocks  on  its  rugged  sides,  it  is  pleasanter  to  study  it 
as  it  lies  there  in  the  depths  of  this  pellucid  sea.  We 
reached  the  South  end,  or  head  of  the  lake  about 
three  in  the  afternoon,  and  here  we  arranged  to 
ascend  the  mountain. 

The  ascent  from  Arth  is  made  by  many,  but  it  is 
far  better  to  push  on  through  the  village  to  Goldau, 
and  there  look  at  the  evidences  of  the  awful  work  of 
ruin  and  death  that  was  wrought  in  1806  by  the 
slide  of  a  large  part  of  the  Rossberg  mountain; 
burying  450  human  beings  in  one  living  grave. 
There  is  the  fresh  white  side  of  the  mountain,  as  if 
the  half  of  it  had  fallen  away  yesterday.  It  is 
5000  feet  high ;  and  lies  in  great  strata  of  pudding 
stone,  which  is  very  liable  to  be  split  asunder  by  the 
water  that  filters  between  the  layers.  You  can  see 
the  ranges  in  the  strata  as  the  sun  falls  on  this  bare 
side,  and  it  seems  as  if  what  was  left  lying  there, 
might  one  of  these  days  come  down  to  find  the  half 


THE  MOUNTAIN  TOPS.  41 

that  left  it  fifty  years  ago.  Then  a  portion  three 
miles  long  and  a  thousand  feet  broad  and  at  least  a 
hundred  feet  thick  broke  away  from  the  rest,  after  a 
long  succession  of  heavy  rains  ;  and  came  down  into 
the  valley,  teeming  with  a  population  of  happy 
peasantry,  and  overwhelmed  them  with  the  most 
awful  deluge  of  modern  times.  So  sudden  was  the 
rush  of  rocks  and  earth,  that  a  party  of  travellers 
going  up  the  Rigi,  where  1  ascended,  were  met  by 
the  torrent ;  seven  had  passed  on  200  yards  ahead  of 
the  other  four  and  were  caught  by  the  descending 
avalanche,  and  never  seen  again.  The  valley  is  now 
covered  with  vast  rocks  and  masses  of  the  con- 
glomerate, which  then  came  down,  and  with  so  much 
force  that  some  of  them  now  lie  scattered  some 
distance  up  the  hill  on  the  other  side  of  the  vale! 
Fifty  years  have  not  restored  the  valley  to  its  former 
fertility  and  beauty.  One  of  its  lakes  was  nearly 
filled  up,  and  now  little  pools  are  seen  where  once 
was  the  bed  of  a  handsome  sheet  of  water.  The 
stories  told  of  individual  cases  of  suffering,  of  whole 
families  perishing,  and  what  is  on  some  accounts 
more  distressing,  of  some  being  taken  and  others 
left,  are  so  many  that  I  will  not  attempt  to  repeat 
them  now.  I  walked  into  the  beautiful  little  church 
at  Goldau,  a  gem,  and  on  each  side  of  the  front  door 
is  a  black  slab  with  a  record  of  names  of  some  of 


42  SWTTZEKLAUD. 

those  who  perished  in  that  dreadful  day.  This  is  a 
Roman  Catholic  Canton,  as  I  had  evidence  presently. 

A  new  scene  opens  on  the  eye  of  the  traveller 
when  for  the  first  time  he  arrives  at  the  foot  of 
a  mountain  with  a  large  party,  and  prepares  to 
ascend.  We  led  off  on  foot  from  Arth  to  Goldau, 
supposing  that  the  fifty  or  more  from  the  boat  would 
strike  up  the  hill  immediately.  But  they  followed 
us :  some  with  guides,  some  without :  some  carrying 
their  own  packs,  others  with  a  servant  to  help  them  : 
some  were  ladies  ready  to  foot  it  to  the  summit : 
some  were  to  be  carried  in  a  chair  on  a  bier  by  four 
bearers  :  the  lame  and  the  lazy  are  expected  to  ride 
on  horses.  I  was  in  the  former  class  to-day,  recov- 
ered from  my  Utleberg  tramp,  and  was  glad  to  have 
good  company  to  keep  me  in  countenance,  for  I  was 
a  little  ashamed  of  myself  in  taking  a  horse  when  so 
many,  and  some  of  them  ladies,  were  going  up  on 
foot. 

The  path  for  a  mile  is  gently  ascending,  and  then 
takes  a  shaded  gorge  in  the  hills,  and  on  this  account 
is  greatly  to  be  preferred  to  those  paths  which  lead 
from  Arth  and  "Weggis,  around  the  mountain,  expos- 
ing the  pilgrim  all  the  way,  to  the  rays  of  the  sun. 
Now  we  are  mounting  steadily :  turning  frequently 
in  the  saddle  to  look  at  the  constantly  enlarging  and 
ennobling  view.  Now  and  then  a  little  cascade 


THE  MOUNTAIN   TOPS.  4:3 

diversifies  the  htfur :  or  we  stop  to  refresh  ourselves 
from  the  many  rills  that  are  gurgling  by  the  path. 
The  noise  of  running  streams  and  waterfalls  is 
constantly  heard,  and  on  the  stillness  of  the  air  the 
tintinabula  or  tinkling  of  the  bells  on  the  necks  of 
the  dun-colored  cows,  that  are  feeding  in  numerous 
herds  all  up  the  sides  of  the  mountain,  comes  gently 
to  the  ear  as  soft  music. 

All  along  up  the  mountain  are  small  sheds,  called 
chapels  or  stations,  with  some  rude  image  of  the 
Saviour  in  it,  and  pilgrims,  to  whom  indulgences 
were  promised  by  the  Pope  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  are  going  from  one  to  the  other  stopping  at 
each  and  saying  their  prayers.  I  dismounted  and 
entered  one  ;  where  the  most  hideous  sight  met  my 
eye  which  I  have  yet  seen  in  the  miserable  Romish 
worship.  A  full  life  size  figure  of  Christ  sinking  to 
the  earth  beneath  the  weight  of  the  cross  is  carved 
in  wood ;  the  countenance  indicating  agony,  but 
such  a  horrid  face  to  personate  the  Saviour !  and  a 
wig  on  his  head  of  long  dirty  hair  hanging  over  his 
shoulders !  It  was  sickening,  and  I  was  glad  to 
hasten  away  from  it,  as  rapidly  as  possible. 

These  praying  stations,  thirteen  in  number,  lead  on 
to  a  neat  church  called  "  Mary  of  the  Snow,"  and 
around  it  are  lodging-houses  for  pilgrims  who  are 
very  numerous  in  the  month  of  August.  A  small 


44: 


SWITZERLAND. 


convent  is  here,  where  four  or  five  monks  of  the  Ca- 
puchin order  reside  ;  they  do  service  in  the  church, 
and  among  the  mountains  where  their  priestly  aid  is 
required.  These  lodging-houses  are  sometimes  re- 
sorted to  by  invalids  for  the  benefit  of  the  mountain 
air,  and  the  whey  of  goat's  milk,  which  can  be  had 
in  great  abundance  here.  Beggars  beset  your  path 
from  the  valley  to  the  mountain  top  :  old  men  and 
old  women,  young  men  and  young  women,  and  little 
children  trained  to  toddle  into  the  road  and  put  out 
their  hand  before  they  can  speak  so  as  to  be  under- 
stood. Many  of  these  are  not  in  want ;  but  every 
bit  of  money  that  can  be  extracted  from  travellers  is 
clear  gain. 

The  steepest  of  the  ascent  is  over,  long  before  you 
reach  the  summit,  and  the  last  mile  of  winding  way 
is  a  very  easy  and  pleasant  ride.  The  change  of  at- 
mosphere is  great ;  and  an  overcoat  is  needed  at 
once,  if  you  are  warm  with  walking.  Fortunately 
you  have  had  no  chance  to  get  the  view  for  some 
time,  till  it  bursts  upon  you  all  at  once  as  you  plant 
your  feet  on  the  mountain  top,  on  a  piece  of  table- 
land, of  half  an  acre,  that  forms  a  magnificent  plat- 
form from  which  to  behold  this  scene.  More  than 
two  hundred  people  are  there  before  us :  most  of 
them  parties  travelling  for  pleasure  from  all  parts  of 
the  civilized  world,  with  guides,  couriers  and  serv- 


THE   MOUNTAIN   TOPS.  45 

ants,  a  singular  group  to  find  yourself  among  so  sud- 
denly and  so  far  above  the  level  of  "  the  world  and 
the  rest  of  mankind."  One  large  hotel,  and  one 
small  one  are  to  shelter  this  company  for  the  night, 
and  we  are  so  fortunate  as  to  find  that  we  are  to  have 
a  small  room  with  three  beds,  just  under  the  roof, 
with  holes  about  the  size  of  a  hat  to  admit  light  and 
air !  That  is  better  than,  none,  and  some  of  these 
people  will  have  none.  Still  the  two  hotels  on  the 
summit,  and  one  half  an  hour  down,  the  Kigi  StafFel, 
afford  abundant  accommodations  to  company,  unless 
as  in  the  present  instance,  the  weather  has  been  bad 
for  a  week,  and  hundreds  have  been  waiting  for  a 
fair  day,  and  the  promise  of  a  good  night  above.  The 
Album  of  the  house  in  which  visitors  register  their 
names  records  the  disappointment  of  many  who  have 
climbed  up  to  see  nothing  but  that  mysterious  mist 
which  so  often  shrouds  the  mountain  tops.  Probably 
the  greater  part  of  visitors  are  thus  mocked,  for  it  is 
cloudy  up  here  more  than  half  the  time.  One  party 
thus  groans : 

11  Seven  weary  up-hill  leagues  we  sped, 

The  setting  sun  to  see  ; 
Sullen  and  grim  he  went  to  bed, 

Sullen  and  grim  went  we. 
Nine  sleepless  hours  of  night  we  passed 

The  rising  sun  to  see, 
Sullen  and  grim  he  rose  again, 

Sullen  and  grim  rose  we  '* 


46  SWITZERLAND. 

Not  such  was  our  fate.  The  sun  was  half  an  hour 
high  when  we  reached  the  highest  peak ;  and  the  first 
Alpine  panorama  was  around  us.  Other  views  had 
been  partial :  this  was  a  great  circle  of  the  heavens 
and  the  earth,  three  hundred  miles  in  circumference  ! 
A  few  clouds  in  the  western  sky  were  gorgeously 
crimson  in  the  declining  sun,  but  the  atmosphere 
was  clear  enough  to  reveal  every  mountain,  every 
lake,  every  village,  city,  forest  and  plain,  with  the 
cottages  innumerable,  dotting  the  valleys.  At  our 
feet  the  Lakes  of  Lucerne  and  Zug  are  apparently 
underneath  the  mountain,  and  they  stretch  them- 
selves so  curiously  among  the  hills,  that  we  can 
scarcely  determine  to  what  sheets  of  water  they 
belong,  or  whether  they  are  new  lakes  and  not  those 
seen  before.  And  away  at  a  distance  are  other 
waters,  some  of  them  very  small,  but  giving  beauty 
and  variety  to  the  plains  below.  The  villages  lying 
close  by  have  their  historic  interest.  All  this  region 
is  William  Tell's.  His  name  is  associated  with  many 
a  spot  on  which  the  eye  is  resting.  A  neat  little 
chapel  is  built  to  mark  the  place  where  he  shot  his 
oppressor  Gessler.  Here  at  the  right  is  the  Lake  and 
town  of  Zug,  and  just  behind  it,  rises  the  spire  of  the 
church  of  Cappel,  where  Zwingle  fell  on  the  field  of 
battle.  But  turning  from  the  views  at  the  West  and 
North,  and  looking  to  the  South  and  East,  and  such 


THE   MOUNTAIN  TOPS.  47 

a  prospect  of  Alps  on  Alps  is  seen  as  no  one  had 
believed  could  be  piled  into  sight  from  a  single 
point.  The  Bernese  Alps  clothed  in  perpetual  robes 
of  snow  ;  those  of  Unterwalden  and  Uri,  with  the 
dull  blue  glaciers  in  the  midst  of  them ;  sending  up 
the  peaks  of  Jungfrau,  the  Titlis,  Kothstock  and  Bris- 
tenstock,  are  directly  in  front,  and  on  to  the 
Eastward,  is  the  broad  white  head  of  the  Dodi,  the 
Sentis  and  the  Glarish;  but  these  are  a  few 
only  of  the  many  named  and  unnamed  that  are 
now  reflecting  the  sunset  from  their  white  crowns, 
or  retiring  into  the  shades  of  evening  as  the 
sun  goes  down.  We  look  to  the  South  East  into  an 
opening  called  the  Muotta  Thai,  where  Suwarrow  and 
Alassena  with  their  hostile  armies  fought  bloody  bat- 
tles in  the  midst  of  fearful  crags  and  precipices,  and 
we  wonder  that  this  land  of  mountains  and  ice  has 
been  selected  as  the  scene  for  so  much  warfare  and 
blood.  The  sun  was  now  sinking  to  the  edge  of  the 
horizon.  A  lady  standing  near  me  said,  "  It  is  fit  to 
light  such  a  scene  as  this !"  There  was  a  fitness 
between  the  sun  and  the  scene  that  was  truly 
striking  and  glorious.  The  hum  of  the  hundred 
voices  was  hushed.  It  was  also  fit  that  we  should 
be  still  while  the  sun  took  his  last  look  of  our  world 
that  night. 

It  is  for  a  wonder  to  me  that  Switzerland  has  pro- 


4:8  SWITZERLAND. 

duced  so  few  poets,  but  not  strange  that  some  of  the 
noblest  strains  of  English  poetry  have  been  penned 
under  the  inspiration  of  these  Alpine  views.  They 
awaken  a  train  of  emotions  so  profoundly  new, 
and  at  the  same  time  so  elevating  and  sublime,  that 
the  heart  wishes  to  utter  itself  in  the  passionate  lan- 
guage of  poetry  rather  than  in  the  duller  words  of 
prose.  "  These  are  thy  works,"  O  God  :  before  the 
mountains  were  built,  and  before  the  hills,  thou 
wert  here.  Thou  didst  "  prepare  the  heavens,  the 
earth,  the  fields,  and  the  highest  part  of  the  dust  of 
the  world."  Thou  hast  weighed  the  Alps  in  a 
balance,  and  held  these  mountains  in  the  hollow  of 
thy  hand.  They  shall  flow  down  at  thy  presence, 
when  thou  comest  to  shake  terribly  the  earth.  They 
stand  now,  because  thou,  Lord,  dost  hold  them  up, 
for  giants  as  they  are,  and  touching  thy  heavens,  they 
still  lean  on  thee. 

During  this  half  hour  of  observation  on  the  sum- 
mit of  the  Rigi,  we  had  been  wrapped  in  our  cloaks 
to  protect  us  from  the  cold.  As  soon  as  the  sun  was 
gone,  we  were  glad  to  go  into  the  house,  where  a 
table  for  a  hundred  guests  was  spread,  with  a  hot 
supper  sufficient  for  half  the  number ;  and  before  ten 
o'clock  we  were  sound  asleep.  Those  who  could  not 
find  beds  spent  the  night  in  the  dining  hall,  entertain- 
ing themselves  and  disturbing  the  rest,  but  we  were 


THE  MOUNTAIN   TOPS.  49 

so  far  above  them  that  we  heard  nothing  till  the 
blast  of  a  wooden  horn  rung  through  the  halls,  in- 
forming us  that  the  sun  would  be  up  before  us  if  we 
did  not  hasten  to  meet  him.  We  hurried  on  our 
clothes,  wrapped  up  warmly,  and  in  a  few  moments 
stood  with  our  faces  to  the  East,  intently  watching, 
like  worshippers  of  the  Sun,  the  first  signs  of  his 
coming.  One  single  peak  was  precisely  between  us 
and  the  sun,  and  as  the  earliest  tints  of  the  morning 
began  to  redden  it,  the  appearance  was  not  unlike 
that  of  a  kindling  fire  in  the  summit.  The  blaze 
gathered  around  it,  and  seemed  to  shoot  away  into 
the  regions  of  ice  and  snow ;  and  then  far  into  the 
clouds  above,  the  bright  hues  of  day  were  cast, 
and  the  crowd  stood  still,  anxious  to  enjoy  the  first 
view  of  the  emerging  sun.  The  horn  was  blown 
again  by  the  trumpeter,  a  miserable  mode  of  an- 
nouncing that  the  King  was  coming,  as  if  he  needed 
a  herald  as  he  rode  up  the  East  in  his  chariot  of  gold 
and  fire.  There  was  just  haze  enough  in  the  atmo- 
sphere to  dim  the  sun  of  his  dazzling  brightness,  and 
we  could  look  steadily  on  his  face  as  he  rose  behind 
the  mountain,  and  seemed  to  pause  on  the  summit, 
and  calmly  to  look  down  on  the  world  he  had  left  in 
darkness  a  few  hours  before.  Then  peak  after  peak, 
and  mountain  ridges,  and  domes  and  minarets,  fields 
of  fresh  snow,  and  forests  of  living  green,  began  to 

3 


50  SWITZERLAND. 

catch  the  morning  tints :  gorges  in  the  hill  sides 
would  lie  there  in  deep  shadow,  and  bosoms  of  virgin 
snow,  bared  to  the  rising  sun,  would  blush  when  he 
looked  in  upon  them,  while  villages  and  hamlets  in 
the  vale  below  are  still  wrapped  in  the  shades  of  the 
gray  dawn,  and  have  not  thought  of  waking  yet  to 
begin  another  day.  We  spent  an  hour  or  two  in  the 
enjoyment  of  this  magnificent  prospect,  which  we  are 
told  is  one  of  the  most  delightful  we  are  to  have  in 
Switzerland ;  and  when  the  sun  was  fairly  up  to  the 
dwellers  in  the  vale  as  well  as  to  us  on  the  mountain 
top,  we  turned  our  backs  upon  him,  took  a  cup  of 
coffee  in  the  Rigi  Culm,  and  bade  farewell  to  the 
most  splendid  of  all  the  prospects  we  had  ever  seen, 
or  expect  to  see  on  earth.  I  am  greatly  moved  in 
the  presence  of  Niagara ;  and  there  have  formed 
impressions  of-  the  active  power  and  glory  of  the 
great  Creator,  such  as  are  conveyed  by  no  other  of 
the  works  of  God.  But  now  I  am  looking  on  the 
silent  evidence  of  his  creating  might  in  a  new  and 
wonderful  form  ;  and  it  seems  to  me  but  a  short  step 
from  those  shining  glaciers  and  snow-crowned 
palaces  to  the  central  throne  of  Him  who  sittetl}  in 
the  circle  of  the  heavens.  "  O  Lord  God  of  Hosts, 
who  is  a  strong  Lord  like  unto  thee  ?  The  heavens 
are  thine :  the  earth  also  is  thine ;  as  for  the  world 
and  the  fulness  thereof,  thou  hast  founded  them  :  the 


THE   MOUNTAIN   TOPS.  51 

north  and  the  south  thou  hast  created  them ;  Tabor 
and  Hermon  shall  rejoice  in  thy  name.  Thou  hast  a 
mighty  arm ;  strong  is  thy  hand,  and  high  is  thy 
right  hand." 

As  we  had  ascended  the  Rigi  from  Goldau,  on  the 
eastern  side,  we  now  went  down  on  the  western  to 
"Weggis.  "We  were  in  no  haste  :  the  day  was  before 
us,  and  we  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  walk  till  we 
were  tired,  choose  a  shady  spot  commanding  a  tine 
view  of  the  lake  of  Lucerne  and  the  surrounding 
hills,  and  then  rest  and  enjoy  the  scene.  The  bells 
from  the  herds  of  cattle  far  below  us,  and  sometimes 
above  us,  and  the  strains  of  music  from  the  villages 
in  the  vales,  would  come  floating  to  us  on  the 
morning  air,  while  nature  with  all  her  voices  was 
making  one  rich  psalm.  The  descent  is  far  less 
fatiguing  than  climbing  up,  but  when  continued  for 
two  or  three  hours  it  becomes  exceedingly  exhaust- 
ing. "We  provided  ourselves  with  pike  staffs  having 
a  Chamois  horn  for  a  head,  and  with  these  we 
resisted  the  too  constant  downward  tendency,  using 
them  as  a  drag  to  a  wheel,  and  making  the  greatest 
effort  to  hold  back.  On  this  path  to  or  from  the  Rigi 
is  a  boarding  and  bathing  house,  over  a  spring  of 
very  clear  cold  water  to  which  invalids  resort ;  and 
as  walking  on  the  mountain  side  for  an  hour  or 
BO  after  bathing  is  part  of  the  discipline,  I  have  no 


52  SWITZERLAND. 

doubt  that  the  establishment  works  many  wonderful 
cures.  A  chapel  of  the  Holy  Virgin  is  close  by, 
where  prayers  are  daily  said  for  the  shepherds  on  the 
precipices,  whose  lives  are  in  constant  danger  while 
they  pursue  the  duties  to  which  they  are  trained. 
Half  an  hour  below  the  chapel,  the  path  leads 
through  a  mighty  archway  formed  by  two  huge 
masses  of  rock  supporting  a  third  between  them. 
Some  great  convulsion  of  nature  has  thrown  them 
into  this  remarkable  position,  and  they  show  in  their 
make  the  nature  of  all  the  upper  strata  of  these  hill 
sides,  which  are  in  constant  danger  of  sliding  down 
when  the  water  works  its  way  under  them,  and 
separates  them  from  the  lower.  Here  we  sat  down 
and  refreshed  ourselves :  a  cool  breeze  rushing 
through  the  passage,  and  making  a  delightful  resting 
place  for  weary  travellers. 

I  said  it  was  easier  far  to  go  down  than  up.  So  it 
is,  but  one  who  caries  much  weight,  or  who  has  not 
considerable  powers  of  endurance  should  be  cautious 
of  making  the  experiment.  A  very  heavy  gentleman 
who  came  to  the  foot  of  the  mountain  with  us  yester- 
day, and  rode  up,  with  his  son,  a  fine  lad  of  fourteen, 
running  along  by  the  side  of  the  horse,  attempted  to 
come  down  on  foot.  "We  overtook  him ;  and  just 
then  he  lay  down  on  the  grass  by  the  side  of  a 
beautiful  spring  of  water :  he  was  exhausted,  and  had 


THE   MOUNTAIN  TOPS.  53 

sent  his  son  down  for  help.  Presently  the  faithful 
and  noble  boy  came  running  up  the  mountain  with  a 
bottle  of  wine  and  a  loaf  of  bread,  and  soon  four 
stout  men  with  a  chair,  whom  the  lad  had  out- 
stripped, came  on,  and  the  heavy  gentleman  was 
carried  by  hand  the  rest  of  the  way.  I  met  them 
afterwards  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  and  congratulated 
the  father  on  his  safe  arrival ;  and  more  on  being  the 
father  of  such  a  boy. 


CHAPTEE  17. 

LTJCEBNE    AND     THE     LAND     OF     TELL. 

The  Lake— Avalanches— Pontius  Pilate— Lucerne— Dance  of  Death— Fishing- 
Storm  on  the  Lake — Ramble  among  the  Peasantry — Two  Dwarfs — On  the 
Lake— Rifle  Shooting— Chapel  of  William  Tell— Scenes  in  his  Life— Altorf 
— Hay -Making — a  Great  Day. 

N  THE  Hotel  de  la  Concorde,  the 
"  house  of  peace,"  I  found  a  pleasant 
chamber  on  the  edge  of  the  Lake  of 
Lucerne  ;  and  so  near  that  in  its  lucid 
waters  I  can  from  my  window  see  the 
large  fish  chasing  and  devouring  the 
little  ones,  just  as  big  fish  on  land  are 
doing  everywhere.  In  front,  the  lofty 
Pilatus  rises  in  heavy  grandeur,  and 
the  Buochsherhorn  and  Stauzerhorn  are  in  full  view, 
with  other  peaks  all  white  with  snow,  while  it  is 
oppressively  hot  below.  I  spent  the  day  here  at  the 
foot  of  the  mountain. 
(54) 


LUCERNE  AND  THE  LAND  OF  TELL.        55 

There  is  no  life  in  this  little  settlement  except  when 
the  boat  arrives  with  travellers  for  the  Bigi :  the 
mountain  comes  down  so  suddenly  to  the  shore 
that  there  is  hardly  room  for  dwellings,  and  a 
few  inhabitants  only  are  scattered  along  on  the 
water's  edge.  But  it  is  on  the  shore  of  the  most 
enchanting  lake  in  Europe,  and  at  a  point  where 
some  of  the  finest  views  of  this  lake  are  to  be  had. 
"We  sat  on  the  bank  to  see  the  sun  set,  a  sight  of 
which  one  never  tires ;  hundreds  of  travellers  have 
passed  up  or  down  the  Bigi  to-day,  and  of  that  whole 
number  we  are  the  only  two  who  have  cared  to  rest 
here  to  study  and  admire  the  scenery,  and  at  the 
same  time  refresh  ourselves  for  future  pilgrimages. 

There  was  a  crash  among  the  mountains  just  now  : 
at  first  we  thought  it  the  noise  of  a  steamboat  on  the 
lake,  but  the  roar  became  quickly  greater,  and  we 
knew  that  it  was  an  avalanche  of  ice  or  of  rocks  that 
had  come  down  the  side  of  old  Pilatus.  It  was  the 
first  that  we  had  heard,  and  were  very  willing  that 
the  quiet  of  our  evening  should  be  thus  disturbed. 
Then  as  if  nothing  were  to  be  wanting  to  make  the 
enjoyment  of  this  scene  perfect,  the  clouds  mar- 
shaled themselves  about  the  Buochsherhorn  and 
played  off  their  lightnings  around  his  head ;  while 
torrents  of  rain  came  down  on  the  lake  below  us, 
and  the  snow  fell  in  sheets  on  the  loftier  mountains 


56  SWITZERLAND. 

in  the  South.  This  lake  is  subject  to  sudden  visita- 
tions of  storms,  and  is  therefore  dangerous  for  skiffs 
unless  under  the  guidance  of  the  native  boatmen, 
who  know  the  signs  of  the  weather,  and  put  in  for 
shore  when  they  apprehend  the  approach  of  a 
gale.  The  hoary  mountain  Pilatus  is  said  to 
have  derived  its  name  from  Pontius  Pilate,  who  was 
driven  away  from  Rome,  became  a  wretched  wan- 
derer here  in  this  wild  land,  and  finally  in  the 
horrors  of  a  guilty  conscience  plunged  from  one  of 
the  crags  of  this  mountain  into  the  lake  and  perished. 
From  its  peculiar  position  and  great  height,  7,000  feet 
above  the  sea,  and  the  foremost  in  the  Alpine  chain  at 
the  North,  the  clouds  delight  to  gather  about  it,  and 
so  many  are  the  storms  which  come  down  from  this 
point,  the  superstitious  dwellers  on  the  shores  for  a 
long  time  supposed  that  poor  Pilate  was  at  the 
bottom  of  them  all,  and  the  lake  would  never  be  safe 
till  his  troubled  spirit  was  put  to  rest. 

From  the  summit  of  the  Rigi,  the  seven  towers  of 
Lucerne  had  caught  my  eye,  but  they  and  the  city 
they  overlook  and  defend,  appeared  more  beautiful 
and  exceedingly  picturesque  as  I  approached  them  by 
water  from  Weggis.  The  old  wall,  of  which  the 
gates  and  towers  are  still  remaining,  surrounds  the 
land  side  of  the  town,  which  stands  on  a  side  hill 
rising  gradually  from  the  water ;  and  all  outside  of 


LUCEKNE   AND   THE   LAND   OF  TELL.  57 

the  wall  the  hill  is  dotted  with  handsome  dwellings 
embosomed  in  orchards  and  rich  meadow  lands ;  a 
picture  of  quiet  beauty  and  a  spot  for  classic  repose 
that  a  weary  man  might  almost  be  pardoned  for 
coveting.  The  town  itself  has  no  pretensions  to  taste 
in  its  architecture,  but  for  beauty  of  situation  on  the 
most  attractive  of  all  the  Swiss  lakes,  it  is  without  a 
rival.  The  hotels  are  on  the  borders  of  the  lake  at 
the  very  landing,  and  the  lofty  Pilatns  on  the  right, 
the  Bigi  on  the  left,  and  the  far  loftier  and  more 
majestic  heights  of  the  Alps  in  the  cantons  of  Schwytz 
and  Uri  are  lying  in  full  view  of  the  Swan  Hotel,  where 
I  lodged,  a  capital  house,  which  I  cordially  commend. 
We  have  been  exploring  the  town  to  find  what  of 
interest  may  be  in  it,  though  it  is  scarcely  worth  while 
for  any  man  to  look  down  for  a  moment  while  he  is 
in  Switzerland,  unless  he  is  on  the  top  of  a  hill.  But 
Lucerne  has  one  peculiar  feature  of  interest,  in  its 
covered  bridges  adorned  with  curious  paintings.  In 
Berlin  a  gallery  for  the  fine  arts  was  opened  over  a 
stable,  and  some  poet  ridiculed  the  idea  by  suggest- 
ing the  inscription  "  Musis  et  mulis,"  to  the  Muses 
and  mules  ;  but  the  Lucerne  people  had  the  singular 
fancy  of  making  their  bridges  over  the  River  Reuss, 
which  divides  their  town  in  two,  the  repository  of 
paintings,  some  of  them  possessed  of  no  artistic  merit, 
and  all  of  them  more  or  less  injured  now  by  the 


58  SWITZERLAND. 

weather.  The  bridges  are  roofed,  and  under  the  roof, 
about  ten  feet  apart,  these  pictures  in  triangular 
frames  are  fastened  up,  so  that  the  foot  passenger, 
(no  carriages  are  allowed,)  may  study  them  as  he 
walks  along.  One  series  illustrates  scenes  in  Swiss 
history — another  on  the  reverse  of  the  same  canvass, 
the  exploits  of  the  patron  saints  of  the  town.  These 
are  on  the  Kapell-Bridge  which  starts  near  the  Swan 
Hotel,  and  runs  across  the  very  rapid  river  Reuss, 
which  here  emerges  from  the  lake.  The  Mill-bridge, 
lower  down  the  river,  has  a  very  rude  imitation  of 
the  paintings  of  the  "  Dance  of  Death,"  a  series  of 
pictures  that  are  so  often  attempted,  we  may  be  sure 
they  once  had  power  on  the  minds  of  men.  The  ori- 
ginals are  destroyed  with  the  exception  of  the  few 
fragments  at  Basle.  The  doggerel  verse  into  which 
the  German  text  is  translated,  is  about  equal  in 
artistic  excellence  to  the  painting.  The  most  remark- 
able bridge  which  Lucerne  once  boasted  was  across 
the  end  of  the  lake,  but  it  has  now  been  removed,  the 
waters  crowded  back  by  the  hand  of  art,  and  the 
large  hotels  now  stand  on  the  site  of  the  old  Hof- 
Bruche. 

In  the  arsenal  is  a  sacred  deposit  of  old  armor,  and 
relics  of  more  than  doubtful  authenticity,  including 
the  sword  of  William  Tell,  and  the  battle-axe  which 
it  is  said  the  Reformer  Zwingle  carried  in  his  hand  on 


LUCERNE  AND  THE  LAND  OF  TELL.         Gl 

the  field  where  he  fell.  A  stranger  may  look  at  these 
and  a  hundred  other  curiosities,  with  some  interest, 
if  he  has  not  been  already  surfeited,  as  I  am,  with  the 
same  sort  of  thing. 

They  have  one  lion  here  that  is  a  lion — one  of  the 
noblest  monuments  and  magnificent  designs  that  I 
have  seen  in  Europe.  We  passed  through  the  "Weg- 
gis  Gate,  and  by  a  shaded  pleasant  walk  in  the  pri- 
vate grounds  of  General  Pfyffer,  came  to  a  lonely, 
lovely  dell.  On  one  side  of  it  a  huge  precipice  pre- 
sents a  bare  rock  face  from  which  the  water  trickles 
into  a  little  lake  at  the  base.  This  rock  is  fringed  on 
the  sides  and  over  the  brow  with  shrubbery  and  trees, 
a  graceful  drapery,  and  in  the  solid  side  of  the  rock 
the  figure  of  a  dying  lion  is  carved  out  of  the  same 
stone.  A  broken  spear  sticks  in  his  side,  and  the 
blood  oozes  from  the  wound.  The  agony  of  death  is 
in  his  face,  but  his  paw  rests  on  a  shield  with  the  arms 
of  France,  which  even  in  death  he  is  determined  to 
defend.  This  monument  was  designed  by  the  great 
Thorwalsden,  but  was  executed  by  Ahorn,  a  sculptor 
of  Constance,  to  commemorate  the  bravery  of  the 
Swiss  guards  who  were  slain  at  Paris  wThile  defending 
the  Bourbons  in  the  Revolution  of  1792.  This  lion  is 
nearly  thirty  feet  long,  and  in  just  proportions, 
making  an  impressive  monument  better  than  the  deed 
deserves.  A  representative  of  the  Swiss  guard  wear- 


62  SWITZERLAND. 

ing  his  uniform,  is  present  to  expound  the  design  to 
those  who  are  not  quick  at  finding  "  sermons  in 
stones." 

A.  cool  delightful  walk  of  fifteen  minutes  from  this 
sequestered  spot  brought  us  into  the  grounds  of  a  little 
convent,  pleasingly  situated  on  the  sloping  banks,  and 
among  cultivated  fields,  now  fragrant  with  new-mown 
hay.  An  aged  priest  came  by,  and  taking  off  his  hat 
politely  saluted  us  as  we  passed.  We  paused  at  the 
door  of  the  chapel ;  a  single  lamp  was  burning  before 
the  altar,  and  one  lonely  nun  was  on  her  knees  per- 
forming her  evening  devotions.  It  was  not  in  our 
hearts  to  disturb  the  calm  current  of  her  thoughts,  as 
she  was  gazing  on  the  picture  of  her  Saviour,  and  we 
did  not  enter.  So  sweetly  and  gracefully  did  the 
villas  lie  among  the  green  fields  and  fruit  trees,  with 
the  lake  in  front  of  them  and  the  snowy  Alps  on  the 
other  side  of  it,  full  in  view,  but  far  enough  to  be  in 
another  clime,  that  I  felt  very  much  like  setting  up  a 
little  convent  there  on  a  new  plan,  and  sending  over 
the  sea,  for  the  community  to  people  it. 

Aug.  24. — We  had  a  storm  on  the  Lake  this  eve- 
ning. For  two  or  three  days  the  weather  had  been 
very  hot,  so  much  so  that  I  was  not  disposed  to  go 
tramping,  even  for  the  sake  of  climbing  up  a  hill  in- 
to a  colder  atmosphere.  We  had  been  lying  off,  too 


LUCERNE  AND  THE  LAND  OF  TELL.         63 

lazy  to  write,  or  to  read.  So  we  went  a  fishing  after 
dinner.  The  Apostles  went  fishing.  They  fished  all 
night,  and  caught  nothing :  we  fished  all  the  after- 
noon and  had  the  same  success. 

Just  before  nightfall,  the  wind  began  to  blow  all 
of  a  sudden  as  if  it  had  broken  out  in  a  new  place. 
It  blew  all  ways  at  once.  The  little  skiffs  that  were 
out  on  the  Lake  pulled  in  for  shore  with  all  haste  ; 
and  in  less  time  than  I  have  taken  to  tell  of  it,  the 
scene  of  calm  beauty  which  the  Lake  had  presented, 
was  changed  to  that  of  an  angry  tempest-tossed  sea. 
The  whole  valley  was  filled  with  black,  fierce  clouds. 
Rigi  was  clothed  with  thunder.  Pilatus  was  totally 
obscured.  The  storm  was  coming  from  his  quarter, 
confirming  the  superstition  of  the  natives,  that  his 
troubled  spirit  stirs  the  tempest.  Through  a  single 
break  in  the  clouds  I  could  see  the  sunshine  playing 
among  the  valleys  away  to  the  south,  while  darkness 
and  gloom  were  all  around  us.  The  contrast  was 
striking  and  peculiar  to  this  region,  where  the  sudden 
elevation  of  the  mountains  mak^s  the  transitions  from 
one  temperature  to  another  rapid.  On  the  bosom  of 
the  Lake  the  reflections  of  the  clouds  were  exceed- 
ingly curious,  giving  almost  as  many  colors  as  the 
rainbow  that  now  began  to  appear  on  the  Rigi.  It 
was  a  beautiful  bow.  No  rain  had  yet  fallen  here;  but 
there  on  the  side  of  that  noble  mountain  on  whose 


64:  SWITZERLAND. 

summit  I  had  spent  the  night,  the  blessed  bow  was 
resting ;  so  pure,  so  glorious,  so  full  of  sweet  sugges- 
tions of  God's  promise,  that  I  looked  on  it  as  on  the 
face  of  a  friend  in  a  strange  land.  It  is  just  such  a  bow 
as  they  have  in  America.  The  same  sun  and  the  same 
showers  make  it,  and  the  same  God  hangs  it  out 
there,  the  sign  of  his  faithfulness,  the  token  of  his 
love.  Who  can  be  afraid  of  a  storm  when  the  rain- 
bow appears  ?  But  it  faded,  as  all  bright  things  fade, 
and  the  dark  clouds  grew  darker,  and  a  heavy  clap 
of  thunder  in  the  west  shook  the  Alps,  and  another  : 
not  preceded  by  a  streak  of  chain  lightning  leaping 
like  a  red  serpent  in  the  clouds,  but  by  a  broad  lurid 
sheet  of  fire,  filling  the  atmosphere,  and  then  sud- 
denly vanishing  into  darkness.  The  rain  now  came 
down  in  sheets  ;  the  wind  blew  with  increasing  power, 
and  for  a  few  moments  it  did  indeed  appear  as  if  the 
prince  of  the  powers  of  the  air  had  been  suffered  to 
reign,  and  he  was  doing  his  worst  while  he  was  left 
unchained.  The  ignorance  of  the  people  could 
readily  be  imposed  upon,  when  such  scenes  as  this 
are  frequent ;  and  I  am  told,  in  former  times  so 
strictly  was  the  ascent  of  Mount  Pilatus  forbidden, 
lest  a  storm  should  be  provoked  by  the  intrusion,  that 
a  Naturalist,  Gessner,  had  to  obtain  a  special  license 
to  pursue  his  investigations  there. 

The  storm  was  of  short  duration.      The   hundreds, 


LUCERNE   AND   THE   LAND   OF  TELL.  65 

induced  by  the  clear  bright  morning  to  go  to  the 
summit  of  Rigi  for  a  sunset  and  a  sunrise,  found  it 
was  not  the  entertainment  to  which  they  were 
invited.  In  full  view  from  my  window,  though  five 
hours  distant,  I  can  see  where  the  clouds  cap  his 
head,  the  rain  is  pouring  there  in  torrents,  the 
western  and  eastern  sky  is  .enveloped  in  mists  that 
obscure  all  view  of  the  sun,  and  more  than  half  of 
the  time,  there  is  as  little  to  be  seen  from  the  summit 
of  Rigi,  as  in  a  cellar.  The  sun  is  shining  brightly 
now  on  the  lake  near  me,  and  a  great  fleece,  as  if  a 
thousand  flocks  had  yielded  theirs  for  a  robe,  is  thrown 
over  the  crown  of  the  mountain,  making  a  veil  that 
no  glass  can  see  through. 

The  next  morning  we  set  off  for  a  walk  into  the 
country.  The  landlord  of  the  Swan  assured  us  it 
would  be  a  pleasant  day,  and  as  this  prediction  was 
made  at  the  risk  of  losing  two  guests  in  consequence, 
we  were  bound  to  respect  his  judgment.  "We 
resolved  to  make  an  expedition  into  the  country 
behind  Lucerne,  cross  some  of  the  spurs  of  the  moun- 
tains, come  around  by  the  foot  of  old  Pilatus,  and  so 
return  to  our  lodgings.  The  whole  walk  would  be 
only  about  twelve  or  fifteen  miles,  and  if  we  should 
lose  our  way  and  make  it  a  little  longer,  why  so 
much  the  better. 

It  was  just  eight  in  the  morning  as  we  left  and 


66  SWJTZEBLAND. 

wandered  slowly  through  the  streets  with  our  Alpen- 
stocks or  pike  staffs  in  hand.  We  paused  at  a  church 
door  or  two,  and  looked  in,  where  a  few  were  paying 
their  silent  devotions  before  the  altar,  with  a  single 
burning  lamp,  and  passing  out  of  the  gate  underneath 
one  of  the  seven  old  feudal  towers,  we  took  the  bank 
of  the  river  Reuss,  and  walked  by  a  pleasant  path, 
expecting  every  moment  to  find  a  bridge,  as  our  road 
was  to  lead  us  off  to  the  west,  and  we  must  cross  the 
stream  to  reach  it.  I  asked  a  little  girl,  tending  two 
babies  in  a  cottage  door,  if  there  was  any  bridge  in 
that  direction,  and  her  ready  answer  "  Nein,"  or  no, 
sent  us  about  in  a  hurry.  Here  was  the  first  mile 
thrown  away,  and  retracing  our  steps,  we  crossed  at 
the  bridge  near  the  wall,  and  taking  the  high  road 
toward  Berne,  were  soon  in  the  midst  of  rural  Swiss 
valley  scenery.  A  path  for  a  mile  or  more  on  the 
bank  of  the  river,  shaded  by  a  row  of  fine  trees,  led 
along  by  the  side  of  the  carriage  road,  but  we  kept 
the  track,  having  little  desire  to  miss  it  again. 
Three  miles  of  easy  walking  brought  us  past  the 
village  of  Lindau  to  a  bridge  over  a  deep  and 
frightful  gorge,  through  which  a  mountain  stream  is 
rushing,  fifty  or  sixty  feet  below  the  bridge.  Here  it 
is  compressed  in  one  place  to  a  passage  it  has  worn 
for  itself  through  the  solid  rock,  and  not  more  than 
three  feet  wide,  but  the  bed  of  the  ravine  gives 


LUCEKNE  AND  THE  LAND  OF  TELL.         67 

evidence  that  the  torrent  when  swollen  with  melting 
snows  in  early  summer,  or  by  heavy  rains,  may  be 
terrible,  so  that  this  massive  bridge,  though  very 
short,  is  required  to  resist  its  force.  The  sides  of 
this  ravine  were  so  precipitous  that  we  did  not 
attempt  the  descent :  but  finding  a  path  up  the 
mountain,  and  learning  from  a  peasant  whom  we  met 
that  it  would  take  us  over  into  a  vale,  we  struck  into 
it,  and  climbed.  The  roots  of  trees  in  some  places 
made  a  flight  of  steps  up  which  we  walked,  and  all 
the  way  it  was  so  steep  that  to  get  on  required 
resolution  and  wind.  But  the  ascent  though  sharp 
was  very  short,  and  in  a  few  minutes  we  reached  a 
well  made  winding  way,  that  led  us  into  a  lovely 
vale.  Thirsty  if  not  weary,  we  called  at  the  door  of 
a  little  dwelling  and  asked  for  milk.  The  farmer 
and  his  wife  were  sitting  on  wooden  benches  by  a 
table,  taking  their  meal  ;  what  meal  it  was  we  could 
not  determine,  as  it  was  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning ; 
too  late  for  breakfast,  too  early  for  dinner.  They 
had  an  earthen  pot  of  weak  coffee  or  something  of 
the  same  color,  and  pieces  of  brown  bread  which 
they  dipped  in  and  ate,  taking  a  drink  of  the  fluid 
now  and  then,  and  apparently  enjoying  their  frugal 
meal.  The  old  woman  gave  me  a  "  Yah"  in  answer 
to  my  request  for  milk,  and  taking  a  glass  tumbler 
from  a  closet,  she  wiped  the  dust  out  of  it  with  her 


68  SWITZERLAND. 

fingers,  and  going  into  a  dark  room,  the  dairy  likely, 
she  brought  me  a  draught  of  as  sweet  milk  as  ever 
wet  the  lips  of  man  or  boy.  The  cottage  was  not 
clean,  I  am  sorry  to  say  it.  I  looked  up  a  flight  of 
stairs,  and  the  appearance  of  things  there  did  not 
suggest  to  me  the  idea  of  taking  lodgings,  but  giving 
the  woman  a  bit  of  silver  for  which  she  thanked  me 
in  German,  we  walked  on,  refreshed  with  the  milk 
and  the  moment's  rest  while  getting  it. 

A  little  farther  on,  and  a  fine  mansion  with  castel- 
lated towers,  stood  on  the  rising  hill  commanding -a 
wide  prospect  of  mountain  scenery,  but  the  road  did 
not  lead  us  near  to  it.  Perhaps  the  proprietor  of  the 
valley  has  his  home  up  there,  and  the  tenants  below 
may  not  be  thriving :  certainly  it  looks  as  if  wealth, 
state,  comfort,  and  elegance  were  in  those  old  halls 
and  having  had  milk  in  the  cottage,  I  presume  we 
might  have  wine  in  the  mansion. 

We  soon  lost  sight  of  every  sign  of  a  dwelling,  and 
walked  on  through  a  pine  forest,  the  saddest  of  all 
forests  to  tread  in  :  the  sighing  of  the  air  through  the 
tree  tops  making  a  music  "  mournful  to  the  soul."  A 
water  course,  in  hollowed  logs  carried  through  the 
woods,  led  on  to  a  mill  by  the  way-side,  into  which 
we  entered  to  see  a  novel  operation,  and  as  queer  a 
little  miller  as  any  body  ever  saw.  The  water  turned 
an  overshot  wheel  outside  of  the  mill,  and  this  turned 


LUCERNE  AND   THE  LAND   OF  TELL.  69 

two  large  wooden  cog  wheels,  which  raised  two 
beams  and  let  them  fall,  up  and  down,  upon  pine 
bark,  which  was  thus  pounded  up  fine  enough  to  be 
used  for  tanning.  But  the  miller  who  fed  the  mill 
with  the  bark  was  a  man  dwarf  about  three  feet  high, 
well  enough  proportioned,  a  stout  healthy  fellow, 
forty  years  old.  He  looked  up  and  laughed  us  a 
good  morning,  and  went  on  with  his  work,  which 
made  such  a  noise  that  it  was  useless  to  converse. 
And  just  as  we  left  the  mill  we  met  a  woman  not 
more  than  three  feet  long,  so  nearly  the  same  age  and 
size,  we  could  not  but  think  they  might  be  another 
remarkable  pair  of  twins,  who  would  have  made  the 
fortune  of  any  body  bringing  them  to  America  for 
exhibition. 

We  were  now  in  a  manufacturing  valley.  The  fine 
water  power  was  improved  to  drive  looms  in  a  mill 
where  twenty  girls  were  weaving,  and  when  we 
passed,  which  was  at  eleven  o'clock,  they  all  quit 
for  dinner,  and  trooped  by  us  in  rows  of  six  abreast : 
hearty  looking  girls  with  no  hats  on,  their  hair  braid- 
ed, and  hanging  in  two  strips  half  way  to  their  feet. 
They  seemed  to  be  very  happy  among  themselves,  and 
modest  and  well  behaved  as  we  walked  along  with 
them  for  a  while.  Other  establishments  for  working 
iron  were  in  the  same  neighborhood,  and  a  village 
called  Kriens,  had  some  beautiful  houses  in  it — one 


70  SWITZERLAND. 

of  them  with  twelve  windows  in  a  row  in  front,  and 
three  stories  high,  a  fine  mansion ;  and  all  of  them 
were  surrounded  with  flower  gardens,  tended  with 
care,  and  glowing  with  splendid  dahlias,  and  other 
flowers.  The  best  houses  I  have  yet  seen  in  Switzer- 
land are  covered  instead  of  clapboards,  with  small, 
round-end  shingles,  put  on  so  neatly  as  to  look  like 
scollop  shell  work.  So  we  walked  from  one  to  ano- 
ther hamlet,  studying  life  in  these  secluded  places, 
where  the  habits  of  the  people  are  quite  as  unsophis- 
ticated as  if  they  had  never  been  a  mile  from  home — 
the  children  did  not  know  of  such  a  place  as  Lucerne, 
though  not  five  miles  off — but  there  was  peace,  order, 
thrift,  and  contentment — the  mountains  rise  suddenly 
from  behind  their  dwellings,  and  shelter  them  from 
the  winds,  and  God  watches  them  in  the  winter  when 
the  deep  snow  fills  this  vale,  and  they  are  as  contented 
as  if  they  knew  that  people  live  on  the  other  side  of 
the  hills.  Some  of  the  cottages  were  beautifully  cov- 
ered with  grape  vines,  trained  between  the  windows, 
and  giving  them  an  appearance  of  luxurious  growth, 
that  might  be  adopted  in  our  country  far  more  than 
it  is.  The  vine  thus  cultivated  occupies  no  space  that 
could  otherwise  be  used,  and  is  an  ornament  and  pro- 
tection, while  it  yields  delicious  and  abundant  fruit. 

Our  walk  this  morning  of  five  hours   brought  us 
through  this  valley  and   back  to  Lucerne  by   one 


LUCERNE  AND  THE  LAND  OF  TELL.        71 

\ 

o'clock,  and  if  there  had  been  any  good  reason  for  it, 
we  could  have  done  a  dozen  miles  more  toward  night. 
We  had  been  brought  more  immediately  into  contact 
with  the  country  people,  and  saw  more  of  their  way 
of  life,  than  we  would  in  a  month  of  travel  on  the 
thoroughfares.  None  of  the  places  we  visited  are 
even  named  in  the  guide  books,  and  we  thus  had  the 
pleasure  of  breaking  out  of  the  beaten  path,  and  find- 
ing one  that  was  new  and  interesting. 

Lake  of  the  Four  Forest  Cantons. 

Lake  Lucerne  is  called  the  Lake  of  the  Four  Forest 
Cantons,  a  longer  but  a  very  appropriate  name,  as  its 
shores  are  washed  by  four  and  only  four  of  the  Can- 
tons of  Switzerland — Lucerne,  Uri,  Unterwalden,  and 
Schwytz.  Above  all  the  .lakes  of  the  country,  and 
perhaps  of  the  world,  it  is  distinguished  for  the  majes- 
ty of  its  scenery  and  the  grandeur  of  its  historical 
associations. 

Speaking  of  the  classic  history  of  the  lake  and 
mountains  around  it,  Sir  James  Mclntosh  says  : 

"  It  is  upon  this  that  the  superiority  of  the  lake  of 
Lucerne  to  all  other  lakes,  or  as  far  as  I  know,  to 
all  other  scenes  upon  earth,  depends.  The  vast 
mountains  rising  on  every  side,  and  closing  at  the 
end,  with  their  rich  clothing  of  wood,  the  soft  spots 
of  verdant  pasture  scattered  at  their  feet,  and  some- 


72  SWITZERLAND. 

times  on  their  breast,  and  the  expanse  of  water 
unbroken  by  islands,  and  almost  undisturbed  by  any 
signs  of  living  men,  make  an  impression  which  it 
would  be  foolish  to  attempt  to  convey  by  words. 
The  only  memorials  which  would  not  disgrace  such  a 
scene  as  those  of  past  ages  renowned  for  heroism  and 
virtue,  and  no  part  of  the  world  is  more  full  of  such 
venerable  ones." 

The  shores  of  this  lake  are  the  scenes  of  "William 
Tell's  illustrious  deeds,  and  the  theatre  also  of 
modern  deeds  of  valor  not  surpassed  by  those  of 
ancient  times.  It  was  the  contemplation  of  the 
moral  as  well  as  the  physical  sublime  in  this  region, 
that  led  the  same  elegant  author  to  write : 

"  The  combination  of  whatever  is  grandest  in 
nature,  with  whatever  is  pure  and  sublime  in  human 
*  conduct,  affected  me  more  powerfully  in  the  passage 
of  this  lake,  than  any  scene  which  I  had  ever  seen. 
Perhaps  neither  Greece  nor  Rome  would  have  had 
such  power  over  me.  They  are  dead.  The  present 
inhabitants  are  a  new  race  who  regard  with  little  or 
no  feeling  the  memorials  of  former  ages.  This  is 
perhaps  the  only  place  in  our  globe  where  deeds  of 
pure  virtue,  ancient  enough  to  be  venerable,  are 
consecrated  by  the  religion  of  the  people,  and 
continue  to  command  interest  and  reverence.  No 


LUCERNE   AND  THE  LAND   OF   TELL.  73 

local  superstition  so  beautiful  and  so  moral  anywhere 
exists.  The  inhabitants  of  Thermopylae  or  Ma- 
rathon know  no  more  of  those  famous  spots  than 
that  they  are  so  many  square  feet  of  earth.  England 
is  too  extensive  a  country  to  make  Runnymede  an 
object  of  national  affection.  In  countries  of  industry 
and  wealth  the  stream  of  events  sweeps  away  these 
old  remembrances.  The  solitude  of  the  Alps  is  a 
sanctuary  destined  for  the  monuments  of  ancient 
virtue ;  Grutli  and  Tell's  chapel  are-  as  much  rever- 
enced by  the  Alpine  peasants  as  Mecca  by  a  devout 
Musselman ;  and  the  deputies  of  the  three  ancient 
cantons  met,  so  late  as  1715,  to  renew  their 
allegiance  and  their  oaths  of  eternal  union." 

Filled  with  such  emotions  as  these  and  fresh  from 
the  perusal  of  these  fine  passages  I  left  Lucerne  on  a 
lovely  morning  in  August,  the  atmosphere  pleasantly 
cooled  by  the  previous  storms,  and  now  a  glorious 
cloudless  sky  hanging  over  this  mountain  sea.  On 
a  little  island,  and  strange  to  say  the  only  island  in 
the  lake,  a  monument  of  wood  once  stood  to  the 
memory  of  "William  Tell,  but  it  was  struck  by 
lightning  and  has  disappeared.  Near  it  the  bay  of 
Kussnacht  sets  up,  where  is  a  chapel  to  mark  the 
spot  on  which  the  arrow  from  Tell's  unerring  bow 
drank  the  heart's  blood  of  his  enemy  and  tyrant 


74  SWITZERLAND. 

Gessler;  and  a  ruined  castle  said  to  have  been 
the  prison  to  which  Tell  was  destined  when  he  made 
his  memorable  escape  of  which  we  shall  soon  speak. 
But  the  boat  put  up  into  another  bay  on  the  other 
side  under  old  Pilatus  and  landed  passengers  who 
were  taken  into  the  small  boats  which  ply  contin- 
ually among  these  bays,  and  distribute  the  passengers 
at  the  several  points  from  which  they  would  make 
their  excursions  into  the  country.  Pilatus  rises  in 
gloomy  grandeur  from  the  very  shores  of  the  water, 
and  its  bifurcated  peak  soon  is  lost  sight  of,  while  but 
one  presents  itselt.  Rugged,  barren  and  uninviting 
as  it  is,  there  are  those  who  yet  make  the  ascent,  and 
from  this  landing,  though  the  ascent  is  far  more 
difficult,  and  the  view  from  the  summit  far  less 
satisfactory  than  the  Rigi. 

We  now  returned  to  Kussnacht  bay  ;  and  if  the 
great  shooting  match  which  occurred  last  Monday 
had  been  coming  off  to-day,  we  would  go  ashore  to 
see  it.  Once  a  year  the  marksmen  of  the  canton 
assemble  for  a  trial  of  their  skill  with  the  rifle,  and 
there  is  also  an  annual  festival,  when  the  best  from 
all  .  the  cantons  assemble  for  the  federal  shooting 
match.  With  music  and  banners  and  processions, 
with  garlands  and  arches  of  victory  and  feasting  and 
drinking,  they  keep  up  this  custom  from  generation 
to  generation  ;  and  the  riflemen  of  the  Swiss  and 


LUCERNE  AND  THE  LAND  OF  TELL.         75 

Tyrol  mountains,  like  their  ancestors  of  the  bow,  have 
no  rival.  The  military  displays  were  very  miserable. 
Having  just  come  from  France,  Prussia,  and  Austria, 
where  the  army  was  evidently  the  pet  of  govern- 
ments, and  the  curse  of  the  people,  I  was  pleased  to  see 
that  the  Swiss  had  no  need  of  armies,  and  the  military 
procession  was  sorry  enough.  But  the  music  was 
stirring,  and  the  Swiss  feel  it  a  part  and  parcel  of 
their  patrimonial  inheritance,  to  be  roused  by  its 
strains  t6  noble  deeds,  or  melted  to  tenderness  by  its 
subduing  power.  The  lake  had  assumed  to  the  eye, 
when  looking  down  upon  it  from  one  slope  of  the 
Rigi,  the  form  of  an  X,  and  now  the  two  promon- 
tories that  divide  it  come  within  a  mile  of  each  other, 
and  are  called  the  Noses,  which  we  pass,  and  enter 
the  bay  of  Brochs,  where  the  Horn  of  that  name  and 
Stawzer  rear  their  lofty  heads.  We  touched  at 
Bechenried,  and  then  swept  the  width  of  the  lake 
again  to  Gersau,  a  little  cluster  of  houses  at  the  foot 
of  a  gently-receding  hill,  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
spots  of  land  in  the  whole  world,  in  the  fact  that  for 
four  hundred  years  the  people  of  this  village,  shut  out 
from  the  rest  of  mankind  by  these  mighty  ramparts 
of  mountains,  and  having  but  three  miles  long  and 
two  wide  of  territory,  maintained  an  independent 
democratic  government  of  their  own.  The  French 
invasion  of  1798  destroyed  their  freedom  by  uniting 


76  SWITZERLAND. 

them  to  the  Canton  Schwytz.  The  mountain-side  is 
covered  with  orchards,  in  the  midst  of  which  neat 
cottages  nestle  sweetly.  All  the  land  they  have  has 
been  washed  down  from  the  mountains,  and  it  would 
not  be  strange  if  trees  and  cottages  and  people  should 
one  day  be  washed  into  the  lake  together.  Such  a 
calamity  would  carry  off  the  old  gallows,  still 
standing,  but  which  the  government  had  no  occasion 
to  use  during  its  independent  existence.  Here  the 
scenery  of  the  lake  becomes  in  the  highest  degree 
sublime.  We  stop  for  a  moment  at  Brunnen,  where 
goods  are  deposited  that  are  to  go  over  the  Alps  by 
St.  Gothard  into  Italy,  and  on  one  of  the  warehouses 
you  see  three  men  painted  in  bold  colors,  and  their 
names  affixed,  the  heroes  who  with  Tell  achieved  the 
deliverance  of  Switzerland  in  1315.  On  this  spot  the 
alliance  was  formed  between  the  three  cantons  of 
Uri,  Unterwalden  and  Schwytz.  Now  the  vast  moun- 
tains rise  more  perpendicularly  from  the  lake  :  a  sol- 
itary rock  stands  a  few  feet  from  the  shore  on  the 
promontory  opposite,  and  passing  it  we  seem  to  be 
issuing  into  a  new  lake  altogether.  Away  on  the 
ledges,  or  table  land  on  the  heights,  stands  a  little 
church,  and  a  few  dwellings  are  scattered  around,  but 
we  lose  sight  of  them,  and  are  now  in  the  midst  of  a 
solitude  of  water,  mountain,  snow  and  sky,  the  gran- 
deur and  sublimity  of  which  it  is  equally  impossible 


LUCERNE  AND  THE  LAND  OF  TELL.        77 

for  me  to  exaggerate  or  describe.     No  road,  not  even 
a  footpath  can  be  made  along  the  base  of  these  rocky 
mountains  that  literally  stand  in  the  water,  and  thence 
rear  their  heads  so  far  into  the  upper  air  that  the 
fields  of  snow  lie  there  in  full  view,  forever  whitening 
in  the  sun.      A  little  recession  from  the  shore  gives 
lodgment  for  soil  enough  to  make  a  secluded  bosom 
in   the   hills ;    and  this  oasis  is   a  sacred    spot    in 
Swiss  history,  for  here  in  the  dead  of  night,  the  three 
confederates  met  to  form  their  plans  to  deliver  their 
country  from  the  Austrian  yoke.     This  is  Grutli,  and 
every  American  who  passes  the  spot  will  feel  a  sympa- 
thetic thrill  of  joy  to  look  on  the  birth-place  of  a 
country's  freedom.      Nearly  opposite  to  Grutli,  the 
steamboat  slackens  its  speed,  and  moves  slowly  and 
solemnly  by  a  small  chapel,  with  an  open  front,  and 
filled  with  rude  paintings  of  scenes  in  Swiss  history. 
This  chapel  is  to  commemorate  the  spot  where  Tell 
leaped  ashore  from  the  boat  in  which  the  tyrant  Gess- 
ler  was  conveying  him  from  Altorf  to  his  dungeon  in 
Kussnacht.      A  storm  came  up  with  such  fury  that 
Gessler,  being  frightened,   and  his  oarsmen  failing, 
ordered  the  chains  to  be  taken  off  from  Tell,  that  he 
might  guide  the  skiff  ashore.     He  ran  it  to  this  rock, 
leaped   ashore,  and  made  his  escape.       Before  the 
despot  reached  his  castle,  Tell  had  waylaid  him  and 
sent  an  arrow  to  his  heart.      This   chapel  was  "  built 


78  SWITZERLAND. 

in  1388,  by  the  Canton  of  Uri,  only  thirty -one  years 
after  Tell's  death,  and  in  the  presence  of  one  hundred 
and  fourteen  persons  who  had  known  the  hero.  Once 
a  year,  mass  is  said,  and  a  sermon  preached  in  the 
chapel  to  the  inhabitants  of  these  borders,  who 
repair  hither  in  boats,  forming  an  aquatic  proces- 
sion." 

"We  were  at  the  head  of  the  lake  in  a  few  min- 
utes. I  was  willling  that  it  should  be  extended 
for  hours,  but  the  little  village  ofx  Fluellen  was 
reached,  and  here  we  go  ashore.  The  village  stands  in 
a  marsh,  which  is  formed  at  the  entrance  of  the  river 
Reuss  into  the  lake,  and  in  consequence  the  people 
are  subject  to  goitre  and  cretinism,  those  terrible 
diseases  so  peculiar  to  this  country.  It  is  not  desir- 
able to  stay  here  any  longer  than  is  necessary  to  get 
away ;  and  there  is  nothing  to  attract  the  stranger. 
We  took  the  first  carriage  we  found,  and  rode  on  to 
Altorf.  At  the  hotel  two  young  women  came  out  to 
receive  us,  as  men  waiters  would  do  in  another  coun- 
try. It  was  a  novelty  to  be  thus  received,  and  giving 
a  hand  to  each  of  the  damsels  I  was  assisted  from  the 
carriage  and  escorted  into  the  house.  One  of  them, 
a  fine-looking  girl  of  eighteen,  in  a  picturesque  and 
becoming  dress,  white  spencer  and  short  sleeves  with 
a  dark  skirt  and  bracelets,  insisted  on  taking  my 
knapsack,  which  I  declined  giving  up,  and  leaning 


LUCEKNE  AND  THE  LAND  OF  TELL.        79 

on  my  Alpen  stock,  I  had  so  much  of  an  argument 
with  her  that  the  travellers  formed  a  circle  about  us 
and  looked  on.  While  dinner  was  preparing  I 
walked  out  to  the  open  square  in  which  that  scene 
was  enacted  which  has  been  more  famous  than  any 
other  in  Swiss  history.  Here  by  this  fountain  was 
the  tree  to  which  the  son  of  William  Tell  was  bound, 
with  the  apple  on  his  head,  and  at  the  other  fountain 
the  father  stood,  to  obey  the  infamous  order  of  the 
tyrant  to  shoot  with  his  cross-bow  the  apple  from  the 
head  of  his  lovely  boy.  A  statue  of  the  father  sur- 
mounts the  fountain.  The  old  village  has  all  the 
signs  of  decay,  and  I  found  it  difficult  to  believe  that 
here  the  crowd  had  gathered  five  hundred  years  ago 
to  behold  that  dreadful  spectacle — here  stood  the 
monster  who  had  given  the  cruel  order,  here  fell  the 
arrows  from  beneath  the  garment  of  Tell,  which  he 
declared  he  designed  for  the  tyrant  if  his  arrow  had 
slain  his  son.  I  walked  out  of  the  village  into  the 
narrow  meadow  under  the  brow  of  overhanging 
mountains,  and  admired  the  industry  that  has  ter- 
raced the  slopes  and  wrung  all  the  support  it  would 
yield  from  the  soil.  A  row  of  targets  was  here,  with 
evidences  that  the  people  having  long  since  laid  aside 
the  cross  bow,  are  now  experts  with  the  rifle  :  and  as 
this  village  is  the  capital  of  the  canton  of  Uri,  it  is 
the  rallying  place  for  those  trials  of  skill  in  which 


80  6WITZEKLAJSD. 

they  take  so  much  delight.  The  tree  on  which  Gess- 
ler's  hat  was  hung,  with  the  command  that  the  peo- 
ple should  bow  down  to  it,  stood  here  till  1567.  when 
it  was  removed  and  a  stone  erected  in  its  place. 

The  valley  of  Schacheu,  which  we  enter  on  leaving 
Altorf,  delighted  me  with  the  beauty  of  its  meadows, 
in  which  the  Swiss  peasants  were  making  hay  under 
a  burning  sun,  while  the  mountains  rising  from  the 
edge  of  the  fields  were  white  with  snow.    The  men 
and  women  at  noon  when  we  passed  were  resting 
from  their  toil,  and  lying  around  on  the  mown  grass, 
the  very  picture  of  slow  and  easy  hay-makers.     We 
crossed   a  rapid   stream    foaming  in   its   downward 
course,  in  which  William  Tell  was  drowned   while 
nobly  striving  to  save  the  life  of  a  child  ;  and  a  little 
further  on  we  passed  the  village  in  which  he  was 
born.     Thus  in  a  single  day  which  is  not  yet  half 
gone,  we  have  seen  the  various  spots  in  Switzerland 
made  classic  by  the  deeds  of  William  Tell  and  his 
compatriots,   and   the   places   where   that  illustrious 
though  rustic  hero  was  born,  where  he  performed  his 
great  exploits,  and  where  he  perished  in  the  midst  of 
one  not  less  noble  than  any  other  that  sheds  honor  on 
his  name.     It  was  a  great  day  to  have  passed  through 
all  these  scenes,  and  I  can  say,  without  affectation 
that  my  solitary  walk  in  that  ruined  town  of  Altorf 
moved  me  more  than  the  contemplation  of  any  battle 
field  in  Europe. 


CHAPTER  V. 


PASS     OF     SAINT    GOTHAED. 

The  Priest's  Leap — The  Devil's  Bridge — Night  on  the  Mountains — Storm — 
Hospenthal — the  Glaciers — a  Lady  in  Distress — the  Furca  Pass — Glacier  of 
the  Rhone — Heinrich  and  Nature — Heinrich  asks  after  God — Scene  in  the 
Hospice. 


E  ARE  now  on  the  great  road 
that  leads  over  the  Alps  into 
Italy  by  the  famous  Pass  of 
St.  Gothard.  The  diligence  to 
Milan  went  off  this  morning 
at  nine  o'clock,  and  had  we 
come  on  in  the  earliest  boat 
from  Lucerne,  we  might  have 
been  taken  on  as  far  as  we 
liked  by  that  lumbering  conveyance.  A  party  of 
students,  seven  from  Germany,  and  two  from  Oxford 
joined  us,  and  we  resolved  to  hire  a  carriage  to 
Amsteg,  two  hours  onward,  and  there  to  begin  the 
(81)  4* 


82  SWITZERLAND. 

ascent  and  pedestrianism  together.  The  ride  to 
Amsteg  was  lively,  but  when  we  were  set  down  at 
that  village,  with  a  walk  of  five  hours  before  us,  all 
the  way  up  the  mountains,  I  confess  to  a  slight 
sinking  at  the  heart;  and  my  courage  oozed  out 
gradually  at  the  end  of  my  toes.  At  the  inn  of 
Altorf,  a  young  German  student  attracted  me  by  the 
gracefulness  of  his  manner,  the  delicacy  of  his  features, 
and  the  pleasant  expression  with  which  he  conversed. 
He  attached  himself  to  our  party,  and  we  walked  on 
together,  pilgrims  to  see  Switzerland,  and  rejoicing 
in  the  power  to  take  leave  of  all  modes  of  travelling, 
but  that  first  and  best,  which  nature  had  provided. 
The  river  Reuss  comes  dashing  along  down  with  the 
fury  of  a  young  torrent,  pouring  over  rocks,  and 
whirling  around  precipices  with  a  madness  that 
brooks  no  control.  The  Bristenock  mountain  towers 
aloft  into  the  regions  of  snow  and  ice,  and  nature 
begins  to  grow  wild  and  dreary.  The  soft  meadows 
on  which  the  maids  of  Uri  were  making  hay  have 
disappeared,  and  the  green  pastures  with  frequent 
herds  are  now  the  only  hope  of  the  shepherd.  The 
road  is  no  longer  a  straight  path,  but  in  its  toilsome 
way  upward,  it  crosses  again  and  again  this  foaming 
river,  and  bridges  of  solid  masonry,  built  to  resist  the 
food  when  it  bears  the  ruins  of  avalanches  on  its 


PASS   OF   SAINT   GOTHAKD.  83 

bosom,  and  spreads  them  in  the  spring  on  the  plains 
below. 

We  crossed  the  third  bridge  and  came  to  a  gorge 
of  frightful   depth   through   which    the   river  rages 
furiously,  in  a  maddened  torrent  too  fearful  to  look 
on  without  awe.     It  is  called  Pfaflensprung,  or  the 
Priest's   Leap,  from   a   story  —  wrhich    no    one   will 
believe  who  stands  here — that  a  monk  once  leaped 
across  the  chasm  with  a  maiden  in  his  arms.     I  have 
no    doubt  a   monk  would   do  his   best    under  the 
circumstances,   but  I  doubt   the   possibility   of    his 
clearing  thirty  feet  at  a  bound  over  such  an  abyss  as 
this,   even    for   the   sake   of   the   prize   he    is    said 
to  have  carried  off.     We  had  been  beset  by  beggars 
under  all  sorts  of  guises,  and  here  a  miserable  old 
woman — alas  that   a  wroman  could  come  to  this — 
appeared  with  a  huge  stone  in  her  hands,  which  she 
hurled  into  the  deeps,  for  us  to  see  it  leap  from  rock 
to  rock  and  finally  sink  into  the  raging  waters  far 
below.     A  few  cents  she'  expected  for  this  service, 
and  she  received  them  with  gratitude  ;  when  an  old 
man,  perhaps  her  husband,  came   on  with  another 
rock  which  he  was  willing  to  drop  for  a  similar  con- 
sideration.     As   I  turned   away  from   the  scene,   a 
carriage  came  up  in  which  an  English  gentleman  was 
riding,  with  two  servants  on  the  box.     I  walked  by 
the  side  of  his  carriage  and  fell   into  conversation, 


84:  SWITZERLAND. 

when  lie  very  politely  invited  me  to  ride  with  him. 
I  declined  of  course,  and  told  him  that  I  was  making 
a  pedestrian  tour,  and  designed  to  walk  to  Ander- 
matt,  three  hours  and  a  half  farther  up  the  mountain. 
"  I  spend  the  night  there  also,"  he  said,  "  and  I  will 
esteem  it  an  honor,  Sir,  if  you  will  take  a  seat  in  my 
carriage."  Such  an  invitation,  under  the  circlim- 
stauces,  was  not  to  be  refused,  and  I  took  a  seat  by 
the  gentleman's  side.  How  wonderfully  the  scenery 
improved,  certainly  how  much  my  appreciation  of  it 
increased,  when  I  fell  back  on  the  cushions !  My 
companion  was  an  accomplished  member  of  the  Lon- 
don bar.  He  knew  public  men  whom  I  had  met,  and 
was  well  acquainted  with  all  subjects  of  international 
interest,  so  that  in  fifteen  minutes  we  were  comparing 
minds  on  those  questions  in  which  England  and 
America  are  so  much  concerned.  We  stopped  at  the 
little  village  of  Wasen  for  refreshments.  I  insisted  on 
paying  the  reckoning,  when  he  stopped  me  with  this 
remark,  "  Sir,  yov  are  my  guest  to-day  :  when  I 
meet  you  in  America  I  shall  be  happy  to  be  yours." 

We  rode  on  and  upward,  the  road  now  assuming 
the  character  of  a  mighty  structure  of  mason  work 
through  a  savage  defile,  only  wide  enough  for  the 
carriage-path,  and  the  torrent  of  the  Beuss,  which  no 
longer  flows,  but  tumbles  headlong  from  one  cliff  to 
another,  while  for  three  or  four  miles  the  lofty  preci- 


PASS   OF   SAINT   GOTHAED.  85 

pices  hang  fearfully  on  high.  In  the  spring,  the  rage 
of  this  mountain  river,  swollen  by  melting  snows,  and 
bringing  down  ice  and  rocks  in  its  thundering  fall, 
would  tear  away  the  foundations  of  any  common 
pathway,  and  this  must  be  built  to  defy  the  fiercest 
storm.  Twenty-five  or  thirty  thousand  persons  cross 
the  Alps  by  this  route  every  year ;  and  to  secure  this 
travel,  which  would  otherwise  be  carried  off  to  the 
other  passes,  the  cantons  of  Uri  and  Tessin  built  a 
road  which  has  twice  been  swept  away  by  the  ava- 
lanches, but  one  would  think  that  the  present  might 
stand  while  the  mountains  stand.  So  rapid  is  the 
ascent,  that  the  road  is  made  often  to  double  on  itself, 
so  that  we  are  going  directly  backward  on  the  route ; 
a  foot  passenger  may  clamber  across  the  doublets  and 
save  his  time,  but  the  carriage  must  keep  the  zig-zag 
way,  patiently  toiling  up  a  smoother  and  more  beau- 
tiful highway  than  can  be  found  in  the  most  level 
region  of  the  United  States  of  America !  Not  a 
pebble  in  the  path:  the  wheels  meet  no  other 
obstruction  than  gravitation,  which  is  sufficient  to 
be  overcome  only  by  the  strongest  of  horse  power. 
Yet  through  this  very  defile,  long  before  any  road 
like  this  had  been  built,  three  armies,  the  French  and 
the  Russians  and  the  Austrians,  have  pursued  each 
other,  contesting  every  inch  of  this  ground,  and  each 
one  of  these  rugged  heights,  and  disputing  the  posses- 


86  SWITZEBLAND. 

sion  of  dizzy  cliffs  where  the  hunter  was  afraid  to 
tread.  Never  did  the  feeling  of  Nature's  awful  wild- 
ness  so  take  possession  of  my  soul,  as  when  night  was 
shutting  in  upon  me  in  this  dreary  pass.  Sometimes 
the  road  is  hewn  out  of  the  solid  rock  in  the  side  of 
the  precipice,  which  hangs  over  it  as  a  roof,  and 
again  it  is  borne  over  the  roaring  stream,  which  in  a 
gulf  four  hundred  feet  below  is  boiling  in  its 
obstructed  course,  and  making  for  itself  an  opening, 
it  leaps  away  over  the  rocks,  and  rushes  down  while 
we  are  toiling  up.  In  the  day-time  it  would  be 
gloomy  here  ;  it  will  be  terrible  indeed  if  the  dark- 
ness overtakes  us  before  we  reach  our  resting-place 
for  the  night. 

More  than  five  hundred  years  ago  an  old  Abbot  of 
Einsiedeln  built  a  bridge  over  an  awful  chasm  here, 
but  such  is  the  fury  of  the  descending  stream,  the 
horrid  ruggedness  of  the  surrounding  scenery,  the 
smoothness  and  solidity  of  the  impending  rocks,  the 
roar  and  rage  of  the  waters  as  they  are  tossed  about 
and  beaten  into  spray,  and  so  unlikely  does  it  ap- 
pear that  human  power  could  ever  have  reared  a 
bridge  over  such  a  cataract,  that  it  has  been  called 
from  time  immemorial  the  Devil's  Bridge,  and  so  it 
will  be  called  probably  till  the  end  of  time.  It  was 
just  nightfall  when  we  reached  it.  It  was  very  cold, 
so  far  up  had  we  ascended.  We  had  left  the  carriage 


THE      DEVIL'S      BRIDGE. 


PASS   OF   SAINT    GOTHAED.  89 

and  were  walking  to  quicken  the  blood,  when  the 
roar  of  the  waters  rose  suddenly  upon  us,  the  spray 
swept  over  us,  and  we  were  in  the  midst  of  a  scene 
of  such  awful  grandeur,  and  with  terror  mingled,  as 
might  well  make  the  nerves  of  a  strong  man  tremble. 
The  river  Reuss,  at  this  stage  of  its  course,  makes  a 
sweeping  leap,  a  tremendous  plunge  at  the  very  mo- 
ment it  bends  nearly  in  a  semi-circle,  while  the  rocks, 
as  if  by  some  superhuman  energy,  have  been  hurled 
into  the  torrent's  path,  so  as  to  break  its  fall,  but 
not  to  withstand  its  power.  Two  bridges  are  here—- 
for when  the  old  road  was  swept  away,  the  bridge 
defied  the  storm,  and  this  one,  more  solid  and  of  far 
greater  span,  has  been  thrown  high  above  the  other 
which  is  left  as  an  architectural  curiosity  in  the 
depths  below.  And  long  before  that  was  built,  ano- 
ther one  was  there,  and  when  the  French  in  1799 
pursued  the  Austrians  over  it,  and  while  the  embat- 
tled hosts  were  making  hell  in  a  furious  fight  upon 
and  over  this  frightful  gorge,  the  bridge  was  blown 
up,  and  the  struggling  foes  were  whelmed  together  in 
the  devouring  flood.  A  month  afterwards,  and  the 
Russians  met  the  French  at  the  same  spot — no  bridge 
was  here,  but  the  fierce  Russians  bound  timbers  toge- 
ther with  the  scarfs  of  the  officers,  threw  them  over 
the  chasm,  crossed  in  the  midst  of  a  murderous  fire, 


90 


SWITZEELAND. 


and  drove  the  enemy  down  the  Pass  into  the  vales 
below. 

It  was  dark  before  we  were  willing  to  quit  this 
fearful  place.  The  strength  of  the  present  bridge  is 
so  obvious,  and  the  parapet  so  high,  that  the  scene 
may  be  contemplated  without  fear  ;  but  the  clouds 
had  now  gathered,  hoarse  thunder  muttered  among 
the  mountains,  spiteful  squalls  of  rain,  cold,  gloomy, 
and  piercing,  were  driving  into  our  faces,  and  we 
were  anxious  to  find  shelter  for  the  night,  We  left 
the  Bridge,  but  in  another  moment  plunged  into  utter 
darkness  as  we  entered  a  tunnel  called  the  Hole  of 
Uri,  where  the  road  is  bored  one  hundred  and  eighty 
feet  through  the  solid  rock,  a  hard  but  the  only  pas- 
sage, as  the  stream  usurps  the  rest  of  the  way,  and 
the  precipice  admits  no  possible  path  over  its  lofty 
head.  This  was  made  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago, 
and  before  that  time  the  passage  was  made  on  a 
shelf  supported  by  chains  let  down  from  above.  It 
was  called  the  Gallery  of  TJri,  and  along  it  a  single 
traveller  could  creep,  if  he  had  the  nerve,  in  the 
midst  of  the  roar  and  the  spray  of  the  torrent,  and 
with  an  hungry  gulph  yawning  wide  below  him. — 
Emerging  from  this  den,  we  entered  a  valley  five 
thousand  feet  above  the  sea ;  once  doubtless  a  lake, 
whence  the  waters  of  the  Keuss  have  burst  the  bar- 
riers of  these  giant  fortresses,  and  found  their  way 


PASS   OF   SAINT   GOTHARD.  91 

into  more  hospitable  climes.  No  corn  grows  here, 
but  the  land  flows  with  milk  and  honey — by  no  means 
an  indication  of  fertility,  for  the  cows  and  the  goats 
find  pasture  at  the  foot  of  the  glaciers,  and  the  bees 
their  nests  in  the  stunted  trees  and  the  holes  of  the 
rocks.  We  drove  through  it  till  we  came  to  Ander- 
matt,  where  the  numerous  lights  in  the  windows 
guided  us  to  a  rustic  tavern. 

By  this  time  it  had  commenced  raining  hard,  and  I 
began  to  be  anxious  for  my  young  friend  Rankin,  and 
a  German  student,  Heinrich.  But  I  could  do  no 
more  for  them  than  to  send  a  man  to  watch  in  the 
highway  till  they  should  come  up,  and  lead  them  in- 
to the  house  where  I  was  resolved  to  spend  the  night, 
whether  we  could  find  beds  or  not.  These  rural  inns 
in  Switzerland  are  rude  and  often  far  from  comforta- 
ble. But  travellers  here  must  not  stand  upon  trifles. 
The  house  was  designed  to  lodge  twenty  travellers, 
and  thirty  at  least  were  here  before  us.  A  large  sup- 
per table  was  spread,  and  around  it  a  company  of 
gentlemen  arid  ladies,  mostly  German,  were  enjoying 
themselves  right  heartily,  after  the  day's  fatigue  was 
over.  The  London  lawyer  and  myself  had  a  separate 
table  laid  for  us — we  soon  gathered  on  it  some  of  the 
good  things  of  this  life,  which  by  the  way  you  can 
find  almost  every  where,  and  had  made  some  prog- 
ress in  the  discussion  of  the  various  subjects  before 


92  SWITZERLAND. 

us,  when  Rankin  and  Heinrich  arrived  nearly  ex- 
hausted with  their  toilsome  walk.  They  had  a  dread- 
ful tale  to  tell  of  the  storm  they  had  met — which  we 
just  escaped,  and  barely  that.  The  lightning  filled 
the  gloomy  gorge,  lighting  up  for  an  instant  the 
mighty  cliffs  and  hanging  precipices,  while  the  thun- 
der roared  above  the  sound  of  the  torrent,  and  the 
rain  drove  into  their  faces,  disputing  with  them  the 
upward  pass.  But  they  were  young  men,  and  strong. 
They  told  me  that  I  never  could  have  borne  the  labor 
and  the  exposure  of  the  walk.  Two  travellers  and  a 
guide  had  given  out,  and  taken  lodgings  in  a  hamlet 
we  had  passed,  and  the  man  whom  we  had  employed 
to  bring  on  our  light  bags,  had  also  halted  for  the 
night,  and  would  come  up  early  in  the  morning. 

After  supper  I  led  them  to  our  chamber.  Upon 
my  arrival,  the  landlady  assured  me  that  every  bed 
in  the  house  was  full,  but  I  insisted  so  strenuously  on 
having  three,  that  the  girls  exchanged  looks  of 
agreement,  and  one  of  them  offered  to  show  me  a 
chamber,  if  it  would  be  acceptable.  She  led  me  up 
three  pair  of  stairs,  into  a  low  garret  bed-room,  with 
one  window  of  boards  which  could  be  opened,  and 
one  small  one  of  glass  that  could  not,  and  here  were 
three  beds  kindly  given  up  by  the  young  women. 
Into  this  chamber  I  now  conducted  my  young 
friends. 


PASS    OF   SAINT   GOTHAKD.  93 

Worn  out  with  their  hard  day's  work,  but  free  from 
all  anxious  care,  they  were  asleep  in  five  minutes, 
while  I  coaxed  the  candle  to  burn  as  long  as  it 
would,  fastened  it  up  with  a  pin  on  the  top  of  the 
candlestick,  and  tried  to  write  the  records  of  the  few 
past  hours.  It  was  amusing  to  hear  my  companions, 
one  on  each  side  of  me,  talk  in  their  sleep  ;  Heinrich 
in  his  native  German,  and  Rankiii  in  his  English, 
showing  the  restlessness  of  over-fatigue,  while  I  sat 
wondering  at  myself,  so  lately  a  poor  invalid,  now  in 
this  wild  region,  exposed  to  such  nights  of  discomfort, 
and  days  of  toil.  Yet  was  I  grateful  even  there, 
not  only  for  a  safe  shelter  and  a  much  better  bed 
than  my  Master  had,  but  for  the  strength  to  attempt 
such  things,  and  for  the  luxury  of  health  that  lives 
and  flows  in  a  genial  current  through  every  part  of  a 
renovated  frame. 

In  the  morning  I  met  an  American  gentleman 
returning  from  the  summit  of  St.  Gothard  pass,  and 
he  advised  me  strenuously  not  to  go  further  up, 
unless  I  was  going  now  into  Italy.  The  most 
wonderful  of  the  engineering  in  the  construction  of 
the  road,  had  already  been  seen,  and  there  was 
nothing  else  of  interest  above.  The  same  savage 
scenery,  in  the  midst  of  which  the  Reuss  leaps  down 
2,000  feet  in  the  course  of  a  two  hours'  walk,  is  con- 
tinued, and  the  dreariness  of  desolation  reigns  alone. 


94:  SWITZERLAND. 

A  house  for  the  accommodation  of  travellers  has  been 
maintained  for  hundreds  of  years,  destroyed  at  times 
and  then  restored,  and  a  few  monks  have  been 
supported  here  to  extend  what  aid  they  %iay  to  those 
who  require  their  assistance.  We,  resolved  to  pursue 
a  route  through  the  Furca  pass,  one  of  the  most 
romantic  and  interesting  of  all  the  passes  in  Switz- 
erland. A  long  day's  walk  it  would  be  over  frozen 
mountains  and  by  the  side  of  never  melting  glaciers, 
and  no  carriage  way !  Nothing  but  a  bridle  and  a 
foot  path,  and  a  rough  one  too,  was  now  before 
us,  and  if  we  left  the  present  road,  and  struck  off 
over  the  Furca,  it  would  be  four  or  five  days  before 
we  should  reach  the  routes  which  are  traversed  by 
wheels.  Our  baggage,  though  but  a  bag  apiece  and 
blankets,  was  too  heavy  for  us  to  carry  if  we  walked, 
and  I  proposed  to  take  a  horse,  put  on  him  our  three 
bundles,  and  ride  by  turns.  Heinrich  had  never 
heard  of  the  mode  of  travelling  called  "  ride  and 
tie,"  and  he  was  greatly  amused  when  it  was 
described  to  him.  Accordingly  we  ordered  a  horse 
for  the  day.  The  price  is  regulated  by  law,  under 
the  pretence  of  protecting  the  traveller,  but  really 
for  the  purpose  of  extorting  from  him  a  sum  twice  as 
large  as  he  would  have  to  pay  if  the  business  were 
open  to  competition.  The  horse  was  brought  to  the 
door,  and  when  we  ordered  the  bags  of  three  to 


PASS   OF   SAINT   GOTHAED.  95 

be  strapped  on,  the  landlord  flew  into  a  great  rage, 
and  declared  he  would  not  be  imposed  upon.  I 
smiled  in  his  red  face,  and  asked,  "  If  he  knew  how 
much  baggage  the  law  allowed  each  man  to  carry  on 
his  horse."  He  said  he  did,  and  I  then  told  him 
to  weigli  those,  and  he  might  have  for  his  own  all 
over  and  above  the  legal  allowance.  He  was  still 
dissatisfied,  but  when  we  bade  him  to  take  his  old 
nag  to  the  stable,  he  suddenly  cooled.  Without 
further  delay  he  made  fast  "  the  traps,"  gave  me 
a  good  stout  fellow  to  conduct  the  party  and  bring 
back  the  beast.  An  idle  group  of  guides  and  tavern 
hangers,  and  quite  a  party  of  Germans  and  English 
were  looking  on  when  I  bestrode  the  animal,  and 
took  my  seat  in  the  midst  of  the  bundles  rising 
before  and  behind,  like  the  humps  of  a  camel. 
"We  are  yet  in  the  vale  of  the  Urseren,  not  more 
than  a  mile  wide,  and  lofty  mountains  flanking  its 
sides.  The  mountain  of  St.  Anne  is  clad  with  a 
glacier,  from  which  the  "  thunderbolts  of  snow" 
come  down  with  terrific  power  in  the  spring,  and  yet 
there  stands  a  forest  in  the  form  of  a  triangle, 
pointing  upward,  and  so  placed  that  the  slides  of 
snow  as  they  come  down  are  broken  in  pieces  and 
guided  away  from  the  village  below.  The  great 
business  of  the  people  in  this  vale  is  to  keep  cattle 
and  to  fleece  the  strangers  who  travel  in  throngs 


96  SWITZERLAND. 

over  the  pass  of  St.  Gothard.  Hundreds  of  horses 
are  kept  for  hire,  and  nothing  is  to  be  bad  by  a 
"  foreigner"  unless  he  pays  an  exorbitant  price. 
Even  the  specimens  of  minerals  are  held  so  high, 
that  no  reasonable  man  can  afford  to  buy  them. 
But  we  are  now  leaving  Andermatt,  and  on  the  side 
of  the  road  not  long  after  leaving  the  village  we  saw 
two  stone  pillars,  which  need  but  a  beam  to  be  laid 
across  them,  and  they  make  a  gallows,  on  which 
criminals  were  formerly  hung,  when  this  little 
valley,  like  Gersau  on  the  lake,  was  an  independent 
state.  The  pillars  are  still  preserved  with  care,  as  a 
memorial  of  the  former  sovereignty  of  the  com- 
munity. 

We  reached  Hospcnthal  in  a  few  moments  ;  a  clus- 
ter of  houses  about  a  church,  and  with  a  tower  above 
the  hamlet  which  is  attributed  to  the  Lombards.  I 
was  struck  with  the  exceeding  loneliness  and  forsa- 
kenness of  this  spot.  It  seemed  that  men  had  once 
been  here,  but  had  retired  from  so  wild  and  barren  a 
land,  to  some  more  genial  clime.  Hospenthal  has  a 
hotel  or  two,  and  it  is  a  great  halting  place  for  trav- 
ellers who  are  about  to  take  our  route  over  the  Fnrca 
to  the  Hospice  of  the  Grimsel.  Here  we  quit  the 
St.  Gothard  road,  and  winding  off  by  a  narrow  path 
in  which  we  can  go  only  in  single  file,  we  are  soon 
out  of  the  vale,  and  slowly  making  our  way  up  the 


PASS   OF  SAINT   GOTHAKD.  97 

mountain.  The  hill  sides  are  dotted  with  the  huts 
of  the  poor  peasants,  who  have  hard  work  to  hold 
fast  to  the  slopes  with  one  hand,  while  they  work  for 
a  miserable  living  with  the  other.  The  morning  sun 
was  playing  on  the  blue  glacier  of  St.  Anne,  and  a 
beautiful  waterfall  wandered  and  tumbled  down  the 
mountain  ;  yet  this  was  but  one  of  many  of  the  same 
kind  that  we  are  constantly  meeting  as  we  go  through 
these  defiles  of  the  high  Alps.  The  vast  masses  of 
snow  and  ice  on  the  summits  are  sending  down 
streams  through  the  Summer,  and  these  sometimes 
leap  from  rock  to  rock,  and  again  they  clear  hun- 
dreds of  feet  at  a  single  bound  ;  slender,  like  a  long 
white  scarf  on  the  green  hill,  but  very  picturesque 
and  beautiful.  At  the  foot  of  this  mountain  are  the 
remains  of  an  awful  avalanche,  which  buried  a  little 
hamlet  here  in  a  sudden  grave,  and  a  sad  story  of  a 
maiden  and  a  babe  who  perished,  was  told  me  with 
much  feeling  by  the  guide  as  we  passed  over  the  spot. 
The  peasant  men  and  women  were  bringing  down 
bundles  of  hay  on  their  heads  and  shoulders  from  the 
scanty  meadows  which  here  and  there  in  a  warm 
bosom  of  the  hills  may  be  found,  and  as  they  descen- 
ded I  recalled  the  story  of  Orpheus,  at  whose  music 
the  trees  are  said  to  have  followed  him,  and  I  could 
readily  understand  that  such  a  procession  might  be 
taken  or  mistaken  for  the  marching  of  a  young  forest. 

5 


98  SWITZERLAND. 

We  are  still  following  up  the  river  Reuss  towards  its 
source,  and  though  it  is  narrower,  it  is  often  fiercer 
and  makes  longer  strides  at  a  step  than  it  did  last 
evening.  We  cross  it  now  and  then  on  occasional 
stones,  or  on  rude  logs,  and  come  to  a  spot  where  the 
bridge  was  swept  away  last  night  by  an  avalanche  of 
earth  and  ice,  and  well  for  us  that  it  came  in  the 
night  before  we  were  here  to  be  caught.  An  old 
man  with  a  pickaxe  in  his  hand  had  been  working  to 
repair  the  crossing,  and  had  managed  to  get  a  few 
stones  arranged  so  that  foot  passengers  could  leap 
over,  and  the  horses  after  slight  hesitation  and  careful 
sounding  of  the  bottom,  took  to  the  torrent  and  waded 
safely  over.  -  I  held  my  feet  high  enough  to  escape  a 
wetting,  "but  I  heard  a  lady  of  another  party  com- 
plaining bitterly  that  the  water  was  so  deep  or  her 
foot  so  far  down,  I  could  not  tell  which,  but  it  was 
evident  that  very  much  against  her  will  she  had  been 
'drawn  through  the  river. 

At  Realp,  a  little  handful  of  houses,  we  found  a 
small  house  of  refreshment,  where  two  Capuchin 
friars  reside  to  minister  to  travellers,  and  this  was 
the  last  sign  of  a  human  habitation  we  saw  for  some 
weary  hours.  We  are  now  so  far  up  in  the  world, 
that  the  snow  lay  in  banks  by  the  side  of  the  path, 
while  flowers,  bright  beautiful  flowers  were  blooming 
in  the  sun.  It  is  difficult  to  reconcile  this  apparent 


PASS   OF   SAINT   GOTHAED.  99 

contradiction  in  nature.  The  fact  is  not  surprising 
here,  where  we  see  such  vast  accumulations  of  snow 
and  remember  that  a  short  summer  does  not  suffice 
to  melt  it,  but  it  is  strange  to  read  of  flowery  banks 
all  gay  and  smiling,  within  a  few  feet  only  of  these 
heaps  of  snow.  I  counted  flowers  of  seven  distinct 
colors,  and  gathered  those  that  would  press  well  in 
my  books,  souvenirs  of  this  remarkable  region.  On 
the  right  the  Galenstock  Glacier  now  appears,  and 
out  of  it  vast  rocks  like  the  battlements  of  some  old 
castle  shoot  1,000  feet  into  the  air.  I  am  now  among 
the  ice  palaces  of  the  earth.  The  cold  winds  are 
sweeping  down  upon  me,  and .  I  hug  my  coat  closer 
as  the  ice  blast  strikes  a  chill  tq,my  heart. 

We  were  just  making  the  last  sharp  ascent  before 
reaching  the  summit  of  the  Furca  when  I  overtook  a 
lady  sitting  disconsolately  by  the  wayside.  She  cried 
out  as  soon  as  I  came  up,  "  O  Sir,  my  guide  is  such  a 
brute — the  saddle  turns  under  me  and  I  cannot  get 
him  to  fix  it — my  husband  has  gone  on  before  me — 
I  cannot  speak  a  word  of  German  and  the  dumb  fool 
cannot  speak  a  word  of  English.  What  shall  I  do  ?" 

"  Madam,"  said  I,  "  my  servant  shall  arrange  your 
saddle,  and  I  will  conduct  you  to  the  summit  where 
the  rest  of  your  party  will  doubtless  wait."  She 
overpowered  me  with  her  expressions  of  gratitude, 
and  while  my  servant  was  putting  her  saddle  girths 


100  SWITZERLAND. 

to  rights,  I  gave  her  guide  the  needful  cautions,  and  we 
crossed  a  vast  snow  bank  together,  climbed  the  steep 
pitch,  and  in  ten  minutes  reached  the  inn  at  the  top 
of  the  Furca.  Distant  glaciers,  snow  clad  summits, 
ridges,  and  ranges  stood  around  me,  a  world  without 
inhabitants,  desolate,  cold  and  grand  in  its  icy  canopy 
and  hoary  robes  of  snow. 

The  descent  was  too  rapid  and  severe  for  riding, 
and  giving  the  horse  into  the  charge  of  the  servant 
we  walked  down,  discoursing  by  the  way  of  things 
rarely  talked  of  in  the  Alps.  My  young  German 
friend  had  all  the  enthusiasm  of  the  French  charac- 
t  j>  ined  to  the  mysticism  of  his  own  nation.  He  is 
well  read  in  English  literature,  and  familiar  with 
ancient  and  modern  authors,  so  that  we  had  sources 
•unfailing,  to  entertain  us  as  we  wandered  on  ;  now 
sitting  down  to  rest  and  now  bracing  ourselves  for  a 
smart  walk  over  a  rugged  pass.  I  became  intensely 
interested  in  him,  though  I  had  constant  occasion  to 
challenge  his  opinions,  and  especially  to  contrast  his 
philosophy  with  the  revealed  wisdom  of  God.  We 
had  spoken  of  these  things  for  an  hour  or  more  when 
I  as';  /;  him  if  he  had  ever  read  "  the  Pilgrim's  Pro- 
gress," and  when  I  found  he  had  not,  I  told  him  the 
design  of  the  allegory,  and  said  "  we  are  pilgrims 
over  these  mountains,  and  have  been  cheering  one 
another  with  pleasing  discourse  as  the  travellers  did 


PASS  OF  SAINT  GOTHARD.  101 

on  their  way  to  the  celestial  city.    They  came  at  last 
in  sight  of  its  gates  of  pearl." 

"  But  what  is  that  2" 

We  had  suddenly  turned  the  shoulder  of  a  hill, 
and  a  glacier  of  such  splendor  and  extent  burst  upon 
our  view  as  to  fix  us  to  the  spot  in  silent  but  excited 
admiration.  It  was  the  first  we  had  seen  near  UB. 
Others  had  been  lying  away  in  the  far  heights,  their 
surface  smoothed  by  the  distance,  and  their  color  a 
dull  blue  ;  but  now  we  were  at  the  foot  of  a  mountain 
of  ice  !  AVe  could  stand  upon  it,  walk  on  its  face, 
gaze  on  its  form  and  features,  wonder,  admire,  look 
above  it  and  adore !  This  is  the  glacier  of  the  Ehone  ! 
That  great  river  springs  from  its  bosom,  first  with  a 
strong  bound  as  if  suddenly  summoned  into  being, 
works  its  way  through  a  mighty  cavern  of  ice,  and 
then  winds  along  the  base  till  it  emerges  in  a  roar- 
ing, milky  white  stream  and  rushes  down  the  valley 
toward  the  sea.  This  glacier  has  been  called  a 
"  magnificent  sea  of  ice."  It  is  not  so.  That  descrip- 
tion conveys  no  idea  of  the  stupendous  scene.  Tou 
have  stood  in  front  of  the  American  fall  of  Niagara. 
Extend  that  fall  far  up  the  rapids,  receding  as  it  rises 
a  thousand  feet  or  more  from  where  you  stand  to  the 
crest :  at  each  side  of  it  let  a  tall  mountain  rise  as  a 
giant  frame  work  on  which  the  tableau  is  to  rest; 
then  suddenly  congeal  this  cataract,  with  its  curling 


102  SWITZERLAND. 

waves,  its  clouds  of  spray,  its  falling  showers  of 
jewelry,  point  its  brow  with  pinnacles  of  ice,  and 
then,  then  let  the  bright  sun  pour  on  it  his  beams, 
giving  the  brilliancy  not  of  snow  but  of  polished  ice 
to  the  vast  hill-side  now  before  you,  and  you  will 
then  have  but  a  faint  conception  of  the  grandeur  of 
this  glacier. 

"  It  answers,"  said  Heinrich,  "  to  Burke's  definition 
of  the  sublime — it  is  vast,  mysterious,  terrible !" 

I  replied  that  "  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  have 
the  sensation  of  fear,  and  scarcely  of  awe  in  looking 
upon  the  scene  before  us — it  rather  had  to  me  the 
image  of  the  outer  walls  of  heaven,  as  if  there  must 
be  infinite  glory  within  and  beyond  when  such  majes- 
ty and  beauty  were  without.  And  then  these  flowers 
skirting  the  borders  of  this  frozen  pile,  and  smiling  as 
lovely  as  beneath  the  sunniest  slope  in  Italy,  forbade 
the  idea  that  this  crystal  mountain  was  of  ice." 

"  But  will  it  not  vanish  if  we  look  away  ?"  said 
Heinrich,  as  he  gazed  on  the  frozen  cataracts,  and 
gave  utterance  to  his  admiration  in  the  most  express- 
ive words  that  German,  French,  English,  Latin  or 
Greek  would  supply,  for  our  discourse  was  in  a  mix- 
ture of  them  all. 

Soon  after  passing  the  Glacier  of  the  Rhone  we  met 
a  peasant  who  assured  us  that  he  had  fallen  into  one 
of  its  crevices,  seventy  feet,  and  had  cut  his  way  up 


PASS    OF    SAINT    GOTHAED.  103 

with  a  hatchet,  thus  delivering  himself  from  an  icy* 
grave. 

A  little  wayside  inn  gave  us  a  brief  respite  from 
our  toilsome  journey.  "We  climbed  the  Grimsel,  and 
reached  the  Dead  Sea  on  its  summit.  It  is  called  the 
Lake  of  the  Dead,  because  the  bodies  of  those  .  who 
perished  in  making  this  journey  were  formerly  cast 
into  it  for  burial.  Heinrich  and  I  left  the  path  and 
climbed  to  a  cliif  where  we  looked  down  on  the  pil- 
grim parties  on  liorses  and  on  foot,  winding  their  way 
along  its  borders.  We  sent  our  servant  onward  to 
engage  beds  for  us  at  the  hospice  of  the  Grimsel,  and 
resolved  to  spend  the  rest  of  the  day  (the  sun  was  yet 
three  hours  high)  in  this  wilderness  of  mountain  sce- 
nery. 

We  could  now  look  down  into  the  valley,  a  little 
valley,  but  like  an  immense  cauldron,  the  sides  of 
which  are  sterile  naked  rocks,  eight  hundred  feet 
high  !  On  the  west  they  stand  like  the  walls  and 
towers  of  a  fortified  city,  and  in  the  bottom  of  the 
vale  is  a  single  house  and  a  small  lake  ;  but  a  flock 
of  a  hundred  goats  and  a  score  of  cows,  with  tinkling 
bells,  are  picking  a  scanty  subsistence  among  the 
stones.  The  scene  was  wild,  savage,  grand  indeed, 
and  had  there  been  no  sun  to  light  it  up  with  the 
lustre  of  heaven,  it  would  have  been  dreary  and  dis- 
mal. Heinrich  had  been  very  thoughtful  for  an  hour. 


104  SWITZERLAND. 

*He  had  discovered  that  my  thoughts  turned  constantly 
to  the  God  who  made  all  these  mountains,  while  he 
was  ever  studying  the  mountains  themselves. 

"  Here  I  will  commune  with  nature." 

I  replied,  "  And  I  -will  go  on  a  little  further,  and 
commune  with  God !" 

"  Stay,"  he  cried,  "  I  would  go  with  you." 

"  But  you  cannot  see  Him,"  I  said — "  I  see  Him  in 
the  mountain  and  the  glacier  and  the  flower :  I  hear 
Him  in  the  torrent  and  the  still  small  voice  of  the 
rills  and  little  waterfalls  that  are  warbling  ever  in  our 
ears.  I  feel  his  presence  and  something  of  his  power. 
I  beg  you  to  stay  and  commune  with  nature,  while  I 
go  and  commune  with  God." 

I  left  him  and  wandered  off  alone,  and  in  an  hour 
went  down  the  mountain,  and  to  my  chamber  in  the 
hospice.  I  was  sitting  on  the  bedside,  arranging  the 
flowers  I  had  gathered  during  the  day,  when  Hein- 
rich  entered,  and  giving  me  his  hand  said  to  me,  "  I 
wish  you  would  speak  more  to  me  of  God  !" 

He  sat  down  by  my  side,  and  I  asked  him  if  he  be- 
lieved the  Bible  to  be  the  Word  of  God. 

He  said  he  did,  but  he  would  examine  it  by  the 
light  of  history  and  reason,  and  reject  what  he  did 
not  find  to  be  true. 

"  And  do  you  believe"  that  the  soul  of  man  will 
live  hereafter  ?" 


PASS   OF   SAINT   GOTHAKD.  105 

"  I  doubt,"  was  his  desponding  answer. 

I  then  addressed  him  tenderly,  "  My  dear  young 
friend,  I  have  loved  you  since  the  hour  I  met  you  at 
Altorf.  And  now  tell  me,  with  all  your  studies  have 
you  yet  learned  how  to  die  ?  Yon  doubt,  but  are 
you  so  well  satisfied  with  your  philosophy  that  you 
are  able  to  look  upon  death  among  the  mountains,  or 
by  the  lightning,  without  fear?  My  faith  tells  me 
that  when  I  die  my  life  and  joy  will  just  begin,  and 
go  on  in  glory  forever.  This  is  the  source  of  all  my 
hopes,  and  it  gives  me  comfort  now  when  I  think 
that  I  may  never  see  my  native  land  and  those  I  love 
on  earth  again.  I  know  that  in  another  land  we 
shall  meet  ?" 

"  How  do  you  know  that  you  shall  meet  ?" 

"  My  faith,  my  heart,  my  Bible  tells  me  so.  I 
shall  meet  all  the  good  in  heaven.  I  am  sure  of 
one  child,  an  angel  now." 

"  And  where  are  your  children  ?" 

"  Four  in  America,  and  one  in  heaven.  I  had  a 
boy  four  years  ago  ;  earth  never  had  a  fairer.  His 
locks  were  of  gold  and  hung. in  rich  curls  on  a  neck 
and  shoulders  whiter  than  the  snow :  his  brow  was 
high  and  broad  like  an  infant  cherub's  ;  and  his  eye 
was  blue  as  the  evening  sky.  And  he  was  lovelier 
than  he  was  fair.  But  in  the  budding  of  his  beauty, 
he  fell  sick  and  died." 

5* 


106  SWITZERLAND. 

"  O  no,  not  died  !" 

"  Yes,  he  died  here  by  my  heart.  And  that  child 
is  the  only  one  of  mine  that  I  am  sure  of  ever 
seeing  again." 

"  I  do  not  understand  you." 

"  If  my  other  children  grow  up  to  doiibt  as  you 
doubt,  they  may  wander  away  on  the  mountains  of 
error  or  the  glaciers  of  vice,  and  fall  into  some  awful 
gulph  and  be  lost  forever.  And  if  I  do  not  live  to 
see  my  living  children,  I  am  as  sure  of  meeting  that 
one  now  in  heaven,  as  if  I  saw  him  here  in  the  light 
of  the  setting  sun. — Heinrich,  have  you  a  mother, 
my  dear  friend  ?" 

"  Yes,  yes,"  he  cried,  "  and  her  faith  is  the  same 
as  yours." 

I  had  seen  his  eyes  filling,  and  had  felt  my  own 
lips  quivering  as  I  spoke,  but  now  he  burst  into  tears 
and  fell  on  my  breast.  He  kissed  my  lips,  and  my 
cheeks,  and  my  forehead,  and  the  hot  tears  rained  on 
my  face,  and  mingled  with  my  own.  "  O  teach  me 
the  way  to  feel  and  believe,"  he  said  at  last,  as  he 
clung  to  me  like  a  frightened  child,  and  clasped  me 
convulsively  to  his  heart.  I  held  him  long  and 
tenderly,  and  felt  for  him  somewhat,  I  hope,  as  Jesus 
did  for  the  young  man  who  came  to  him  with  a 
similar  inquiry.  I  loved  Mm,  and  longed  to  lead 
him  to  the  light  of  day. 


CHAPTER  YI. 

GLACIEKS     OF     THE     A  A  K  . 

My  new  Friend— a  "Wonderful  Youth— Hospice  of  the  Grimsel— the  Valley— a 
comfortable  Day — Glaciers  of  the  Aar — a  Gloomy  Vale — Climbing  a  Hill — 
View  of  the  Glacier — Theory  of  its  Formation — Caverns  in  the  Ice — Inci- 
dents of  Men  falling  in — My  Leap  and  Fall — an  Artist  Lost — Return. 

EINRICH  proved  to  be  a  wonderful 
youth.  He  had  a  warm  heart,  and 
his  intellect  was  cultivated  to  a  de- 
gree not  parallelled  in  my  acquaint- 
ance among  young  men.  He  was 
just  one  and  twenty  years  of  age,  and 
had  not  completed  the  usual  course 
of  collegiate  education.  But  there 
was  no  author  in  the  Latin  or  Greek 
languages,  poet,  philosopher  or  historian,  whose 
works  I  have  ever  heard  of,  which  were  not  familiar 
to  him,  as  the  English  Classics  are  to  well  read  men 
in  England  or  America.  He  discoursed  readily  of  the 
(107) 


108  SWITZERLAND. 

style,  the  dialect,  the  shade  of  sentiment  on  any  dis- 
puted point;  he  cited  passages  and  drew  illustrations 
from  the  pages  of  ancient  literature  which  seemed  to 
him  like  household  words  :  and  one  of  our  amuse- 
ments when  crossing  the  Alps  was  to  discuss  the  dif- 
ference in  Greek  or  Latin  words  which  are  usually 
regarded  as  synonymes.  But  classical  learning  was  the 
least  and  lowest  attainment  of  this  accomplished 
youth.  The  whole  range  of  Natural  Sciences  had 
been  pursued  -with  a  zeal  that  might  be  called  a  pas- 
sion. Botany  and  Mineralogy  were  child's  play  to 
him  :  and  Chemistry  had  been  a  favorite  study  evi- 
dently, for  its  principles  often  came  up  in  our  ram- 
bling discourse,  and  he  was  master  of  it  as  if  he  had 
been  a  teacher  of  the  science  for  years.  Geology 
was  a  hobby  of  his,  and  he  thrust  it  upon  me  often 
when  I  wished  he  would  let  me  alone,  or  discourse  of 
something  else.  And  yet  when  I  have  said  all  this 
I  have  not  mentioned  the  department  in  which  he 
was  most  at  home,  where  his  soul  revelled  in  pro- 
found enjoyment,  and  in  which  he  was  resolved  to 
spend  his  life.  Metaphysics  was  his  favorite  pursuit. 
His  analytical  mind  was  always  on  the  track  of  inves- 
tigation, challenging  a  reason  for  everything,  ques- 
tioning the  truth  of  every  proposition,  and  never  rest- 
ing till  his  reason  had  subjected  it  to  the  most  exhaus- 
ting process.  Yet  in  the  midst  of  these  studies  inclu- 


GLACIERS    OF   THE   AAK.  109 

ding  many  departments  to  which  I  have  not  referred, 
as  the  exact  sciences,  he  had  polished  this  fine  intel- 
lect by  the  widest  course  of  polite  literature,  perusing 
in  the  German  translations,  all  the  old  masters  of  the 
English  tongue,  admiring  Shakespeare  and  Milton, 
quoting  from  them  as  a  scholar  would  from  Sophocles 
or  Homer,  and  sin-prising  me  by  reference  to  English 
authors,  whose  works  I  had  not  supposed  were  trans- 
lated into  the  German  language.  Of  course  the 
poefe  and  philosophers  of  his  father-land  were  his 
pride  and  love.  Often  he  would  speak  of  them  in 
terms  of  endearment,  as  if  they  were  his  personal 
friends  ;  though  of  all  beings,  present  or  past,  in  hea- 
ven or  out  of  it,  I  think  he  loved  Plato  most.  This 
boy  was  just  out  of  his  teens,  a  student  still,  and 
modest  as  he  was  learned ;  burning  to  learn  more  ; 
asking  questions  till  it  was  tiresome  to  hear  them  ;  and 
never  dreaming  that  he  knew  more  than  others.  He 
was  the  most  learned  young  man  I  ever  saw.  And 
few  old  men  know  half  as  much.  He  now  joined  nay 
party,  leaving  his  own  altogether,  and  resolved  to 
follow  me  to  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

We  are  now  in  the  Yale  of  the  Grimsel.  In  the 
bottom  of  the  Yalley,  by  the  side  of  a  lake  forever 
dark  with  the  shadows  of  overhanging  hills,  is  the 
Hospice,  a  name  that  here  combines  the  idea  of 
hospital  and  hotel — its  design  being  to  furnish  lodg- 


110  SWITZERLAND. 

ing  and  entertainment  to  travellers,  whether  they  are 
able  to  pay  for  the  hospitality  or  not.  Last  winter 
the  landlord  of  the  Grimsel  having  insured  his 
house,  set  fire  to  it,  to  get  the  money,  and  now  is  in 
prison  for  twenty  years  as  the  penalty  of  his  crime. 
In  years  past  there  have  been  terrible  avalanches 
here,  and  once  the  house  was  crushed  by  the  "  thun- 
derbolts of  snow."  Often  it  is  surrounded  by  snow 
drifts  twenty  or  thirty  feet  high,  yet  some  one  lodges 
here  all  winter  to  keep  up  a  fire  and  furnish  shelter  to 
the  benighted  traveller.  It  is  strange  that  these 
lonely  paths  should  be  traversed  at  all  in  the  depth 
of  winter.  But  there  is  no  other  mode  of  communi- 
cation between  the  valleys,  than  along  these  defiles, 
and  the  traffic  among  the  people  of  one  canton  with 
another  is  carried  on,  and  the  intercourse  of  families 
is  kept  up  at  the  risk  of  life  here  as  in  other  countries. 
If  one  has  a  good  home,  it  were  better  to  stay  in  it 
than  to  cross  the  Grimsel  in  the  winter. 

A  mixed  multitude  were  under  the  roof  of  the 
Hospice.  The  building  is  yet  unfinished  ;  and  it 
must  have  required  prodigious  exertions  to  get  it  so 
far  under  way,  since  the  fire,  as  to  make  it  habitable 
for  travellers  this  season.  Every  stick  of  timber 
must  be  brought  up  by  hand  from  the  plain  some 
miles  below.  The  walls  are  of  stone,  about  three  feet 
thick,  and  rough  enough.  No  attempt  to  smooth  a 


GLACIEES   OF   THE   AAK.  Ill 

wall,  or  paint  a  board  appears  on  the  edifice,  and  the 
rude  bedsteads,  benches  and  chairs -suggest  to  the 
luxurious  traveller  how  few  of  the  good  things  he  has 
at  home  are  actually  essential  to  his  comfort.  The 
house  has  about  forty  beds,  but  these  were  far  fr\>m 
being  sufficient  to  give  each  weary  pilgrim  one. 
Many  were  obliged  to  choose  the  softest  boards  in  the 
dining  room  floor,  and  sleep  on  them.  Yet  in  that 
company  of  sixty  who  crowded  around  the  supper 
table  were  many  of  the  learned,  and  titled,  and  beau- 
tiful, and  wealthy  of  many  lands  ;  meeting  socially  in 
a  dreary  valley,  on  a  journey  of  pleasure,  and  refresh- 
ing each  other  with  the  "  feast  of  reason  and  the  flow 
of  soul."  Reserve  was  banished,  and  the  hour  freely 
given  to  good  cheer,  in  which  all  strove  to  forget  the 
toils  of  the  day,  in  the  pleasures  of  the  evening,  and 
the  repose  of  a  peaceful  night. 

Within  an  hour's  walk  from  the  door  of  the  Hos- 
pice is  the  Glacier  of  the  Aar,  the  most  interesting 
and -instructive  of  all  the  Glaciers  of  Switzerland.  It 
lias  been'  more  studied  by  men  of  science  than  any 
other.  Agazziz  and  Forbes  had  their  huts  on  its 
bosom,  and  spent  many  long  and  weary  months  in 
prying  into  the  mysteries  of  these  stupendous  seas  of 
solid  water.  Not  one  of  the  whole  company  who 
staid  at  the  Hospice  last  night,  turned  aside  for  a  day 
to  study  with  us  this  wonderful  scene.  A  party  of 


112  SWITZERLAND. 

English  people  read  the  guide  book  on  the  route  to 
Meyringen,  and  congratulated  themselves  on  having 
a  "  comfortable"  day,  as  there  was  very  little  to  see  ! 
They  were  doing  Switzerland,  and  were  evidently 
pleased  to  find  a  day  before  them  when  they  had 
nothing  to  do  but  to  go  on,  without  being  worried 
with  fine  views  and  climbing  hills.  One  party  after 
another  came  down  and  took  a  wretched  cup  of 
coffee,  and  were  off  on  their  pilgrimage,  some  on 
foot,  some  on  mules,  and  one  or  two  were  carried  on 
chairs  by  porters. 

We  were  left  alone  at  the  Hospice,  and  after 
breakfast  set  off  to  spend  the  day  on  the  Glaciers. 
There  are  two  of  them,  the  Obi  and  Unter,  or  Upper 
and  Lower  ;  the  latter  being  the  most  easily  reached, 
and  happily  the  most  interesting.  It  is  eighteen 
miles  long,  and  about  three  miles  wide.  To  circum- 
navigate it  therefore,  is  not  the  journey  of  a  day,  but 
it  may  be  explored  on  foot,  and  Hugi,  the  naturalist, 
is  said  to  have  rode  over  it  on  a  horse.  The  morn- 
ing was  not  promising;.  Heavy  mists  had  lodged  in 
the  vale  of  the  Grimsel.  But  far  above  them  in 
gloomy  grandeur  rose  the  sterile  ridges  of  rocks, 
towering  aloft,  and  looking  like  the  battlements  of 
giants'  castles,  inaccessible  save  to  the  chamois  and 
his  pursuer,  who  often  risked,  and  sometimes  threw 
away  his  life  in  his  daring  adventures  to  secure  his 


GLACIERS    OF   THE    AAR.  113 

prey.  Even  the  chamois  has  now  almost  entirety  dis- 
appeared, and  the  eagles  alone  have  their  dwelling 
places  in  these  desolate  abodes.  Yet  from  the  lofty 
heights  some  beautiful  cascades  are  pouring  all  the 
way  down  into  the  vale,  foaming  as  they  fall ;  and 
sometimes  caught  by  the  intervening  rocks,  and  sent 
out  from  the  side  of  the  precipice  they  melt  into 
spray,  and  again  on  a  lower  ledge  are  gathered  to 
pursue  their  downward  course.  Along  the  bottom  of 
this  gloomy  vale  we  walked  for  an  hour,  till  we  came 
in  sight  of  a  mighty  pile  of  earth,  rocks,  ice  and 
snow.  At  first  we  thought  we  had  come  to  a  vast 
heap  of  sand,  or  to  the  debris  brought  down  by  an 
avalanche  of  soil  with  stones  intermingled,  but  from 
the  base  of  it  a  torrent  was  rushing,  not  of  clear  blue 
water,  but  of  a  dirty  milky  hue,  as  are  all  the  streams 
when  they  issue  from  the  beds  of  these  Glaciers. 
The  front  of  the  mass  was  perhaps  one  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  high,  and  nearly  perpendicular,  and  here  it 
was  half  a  mile  in  width.  On  nearer  approach,  we 
could  see  the  rocks  of  blue  ice  projecting  through  the 
coating  of  earth,  showing  plainly  that  the  body  of  the 
great  pile  before  us  was  the  cold  icebergs  hid  beneath 
a  covering  of  earth  that  had  been  washed  down  upon 
it,  from  the  mountains  above.  Now  and  then  large 
masses  of  earth,  or  a  huge  boulder  would  be  dislodged 
from  the  brow  of  the  pile,  and  tlmnder  along  down, 


114:  SWITZERLAND. 

as  we  sat  watching  for  these  miniature  avalanches. 
The  sense  of  the  terrible  was  strong  upon  us  now.  It 
was  not  beautiful :  it  was  grand  and  awful,  as  we 
changed  our  position  lest  the  falling  rocks  should 
overtake  us  in  their  course.  But  a  few  little  birds 
were  flying  about  from  stone  to  stone  unconscious  of 
danger,  the  solitary  inhabitants  of  this  frozen  world. 

We  now  determined  to  ascend  and  look  on  its  face. 
With  incredible  toil  we  climbed  the  hill  by  the  side 
of  it.  If  there  ever  was  a  path,  we  could  not  find  it, 
but  from  rock  to  rock,  often  pulling  ourselves  up  by 
the  stunted  bushes,  we  worked  our  way.  Onward 
and  upward  we  mounted,  and  at  last  were  rewarded 
for  the  struggle  by  standing  abreast  of  the  glacier, 
where  we  could  walk  around  and  upon  it  and  con- 
template its  stupendous  proportions.  From  the 
bosom  of  it  rises  the  Finster-Aarhorn,  a  lone  pyra- 
mid that  seems  now  to  touch  the  blue  sky :  so  cold 
and  stern  it  stands  there,  its  head  forever  covered 
with  snow  and  its  foot  in  this  everlasting  ocean  of 
ice.  The  Schreckhorn  is  the  other  peak  that  stands 
yet  farther  off,,  but  the  clouds  are  now  so  dense 
around  its  summit,  that  I  cannot  see  its  hoary  head. 

Here  we  are  six  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  sea,  and  for  three-quarters  of  the  year  the 
snow  is  falling  on  these  mountains  :  not  an  April 
snow  that  melts  as  it  falls,  but  a  dry  powder,  into 


GLACIERS   OF  THE   AAB.  115 

which  a  man  without  snow  -  shoes  would  sink 
out  of  sight,  as  in  the  water.  On  the  loftiest  of  these 
mountains,  the  surface  of  the  snow  melts  a  little 
every  day,  and  the  deeper  you  descend  into  the 
snow,  the  melting  is  going  on  also.  But  at  night  it 
freezes,  as  by  day  for  a  little  while  it  thaws,  and  this 
process  is  continued  until  the  snow  is  gradually  con- 
verted into  ice.  The  high  valleys  are  filled  with 
these  ever  increasing  deposits  of  snow,  which  are 
thus  constantly  undergoing  this  change,  and  as  the 
fresh  deposit  far  exceeds  what  is  carried  off  by  melt- 
ing, the  enormous  mass  is  rather  increased  than 
diminished  by  the  lapse  of  time.  It  becomes  a  fixed 

fact ;  yet  not  fixed,  for  the  most  remarkable,  and  to 

• 

my  mind,  the  sublimest  fact  in  this  relation,  is  that 
these  glaciers  are  actually  moving  steadily,  year  by 
year.  The  projecting  mass  in  the  lowest  valley,  as 
where  we  were  standing  a  few  hours  ago,  is  melting 
away,  and  sending  out  the  river  that  leaves  its  bosom 
on  its  mission  into  a  world  far  below.  Underneath 
the  glacier,  where  it  presses  on  the  earth,  which  has 
a  heart  of  fire,  the  work  of  dissolution  is  rapidly  going 
on,  while  the  sun  on  the  upper  surface  melts  the  ice, 
and  streams  flow  along  and  cut  deep  crevices  into 
which  the  uncautious  traveller  may  fall  never  to  rise 
again  till  the  last  day.  Some  of  these  glaciers  may 
be  traversed  rmderneath,  by  following  the  streams. 


116  SWITZERLAND. 

Hugi  wandered  a  mile  in  this  way  underneath  mag- 
nificent domes,  through  which  the  sun-light  was 
streaming,  and  among  crystal  columns  which  had 
been  left  standing  'as  if  to  support  the  superincum- 
bent mass.  The  water,  as  in  rocky  caverns,  trickles 
through  and  freezes  in  beautiful  stalactytes,  to  adorn 
these  palaces,  unseen  except  by  the  eye  to  which 
darkness  and  light  are  both  alike.  As  this  decay  of 
the  glacier  takes  place,  and  it  is  always  more  rapid 
near  the  lower  border  of  it  than  above,  the  pressure 
of  the  upper  masses  brings  the  whole  mountain 
slowly  along  :  with  a  steadiness  of  march  that  cannot 
be  perceived  by  the  eye,  but  which  is  marked  with 
precision,  and  chronicled  from  year  to  year.  The 
place  where  great  rocks  are  reposing  on  the  surface 
near  the  edge  of  the  mountain  against  which  the  gla- 
cier presses  has  been  carefully  noted,  and  the  next 
year  and  for  many  subsequent  years,  the  onward  pro- 
gress of  the  boulder  has  been  noted.  Blocks  of 
granite  have  been  inserted  in  the  bosom  of  the  gla- 
cier, and  their  position  defined  by  their  relation  to 
the  points  of  land  in  sight ;  and  years  afterwards  they 
are  away  on  their  journey,  and  by  and  by,  they  have 
disappeared  altogether  as  the  glacier  moves  on  and 
heaves  and  breaks  and  closes  again.  More  wonderful 
still,  it  is  recorded  that  a  "  mass  of  granite  of  twenty 
six  thousand  cubic  feet,  originally  buried  under  the 


GLACIERS    OF   1HE   AAR.  117 

snow,  was  raised  to  the  surface  and  even  elevated 
above  it  upon  two  pillars  of  ice,  so  that  a  small  army 
might  have  found  shelter  under  it."  The  men  of 
science  who  have  pursued  investigations  here  under 
circumstances  quite  as  fearful  and  forbidding  as  the 
navigators  around  the  north  Pole,  have  a  rude  hut  in 
which  they  make  themselves  as  comfortable  as  the 
nature  of  the  case  will  admit ;  but  this  house  though 
founded  on  a  rock  is  not  stationary.  It  moves  on 
with  the  mighty  field  of  ice,  about  three  hundred  feet 
in  a  year,  or  nearly  one  foot  every  day  :  not  so  rap- 
idly in  winter  as  in  summer,  for  the  rate  of  progress 
depends  on  the  melting,  which  is  arrested  for  a  brief 
period  during  the  terrible  winters  of  this  Alpine 
region.  Other  glaciers  move  with  greater  rapidity 
than  this.  The  Mere  de  Glace  is  believed  to  move  at 
the  rate  of  four  or  five  hundred  feet  every  year,  and 
it  is  said  that  the  glacier  is  gradually  wasting  out. 

The  surface  of  this  frozen  sea  is  exceedingly  irreg- 
ular, depending  on  the  nature  of  the  ground  below, 
and  the  progress  of  the  ice.  When  a  stream  has  cut 
away  a  great  seam,  where  the  descent  of  the  moving 
mass  will  be  swift  when  it  does  move,  the  shock  will 
throw  up  the  ice  in  ridges,  in  pyramids,  in  various 
fantastic  shapes,  piling  rocks  on  rocks  of  ice,  as  if 
some  great  explosion  underneath  had  upheaved  the 
surface  and  the  fragments  had  come  down  in  wild 


118  SWITZERLAND. 

confusion,  like  the  ruins  of  a  crystal  city.  Then  the 
sun  gradually  melts  those  towers,  and  they  assuftie 
strange  shapes  of  wild  and  dazzling  beauty,  unreal 
palaces,  glittering  minarets,  silvered  domes  and 
shining  battlements ;  freaks  of  nature  we  call  them, 
but  they  are  too  beautiful  for  chance  work,  and  we 
do  not  know  to  what  eyes  these  forms  of  glory  may 
give  pleasure,  nor  why  it  is  that  God  displays  so 
much  of  his  selectest  skill  and  most  stupendous 
power,  where  few  behold  it  of  the  race  to  which  we 
belong.  Doubtless  our  own  great  Cataract  leaped"  and 
thundered  in  the  wilderness  thousands  of  years,  with 
no  human  ear  or  eye  to  receive  its  majesty  and 
beauty,  but  it  did  not  roar  in  vain.  God  has  other 
and  nobler  worshippers  than  man,  and  while  we  are 
groping  like  moles  beneath  the  surface,  and  striving 
in  our  blindness  to  discover  the  mysteries  of  God's 
works,  there  are  minds  to  which  these  wonders  are 
revelations  of  their  Maker's  glory  and  goodness,  and 
they  understand,  admire  and  adore. 

Here  was  a  world  of  solid  water,  gradually  enlarg- 
ing and  then  melting  away,  to  send  down  rivers  into 
the  plains  below,  and  this  with  the  other  glaciers  of  the 
Alps,  is  thus  supplying  all  the  rivers  in  Europe  which 
might  otherwise  be  dry.  Yet  as  other  rivers  in  other 
lands  are  constantly  supplied  without  this  provision, 
we  must  suppose  that  some  other  design  in  Providence 


GLACIERS   OF  THE  AAE.  119 

is  laid,  which  science  may  or  may  not  discover,  but 
whether  it  does  or  not,  we  are  certain  that  they  are 
not  without  a  purpose  corresponding  with  the  magni- 
tude of  their  proportions,  and  the  wisdom  of  Him 
who,  though  omnipotent,  never  wastes  His  strength 
in  works  without  design. 

"We  confined  our  walks  to  the  edges  of  this  solid 
but  still  treacherous  sea.  We  had  yesterday  con- 
versed with  a  man  who  had  fallen  into  the  crevices 
of  one  of  these  glaciers,  and  we  had  a  greater  horror 
of  repeating  the  experiment.  The  case  is  on  record 
of  a  shepherd  who  was  crossing  this  very  glacier 
with  his  flock,  when  he  fell  into  one  of  the  clefts, 
into  which  a  torrent  was  pouring.  This  stream  was 
his  guide  to  life  and  liberty  again ;  for  he  followed 
its  course  under  the  archway  it  had  made,  until  it 
led  him  to  the  foot  of  the  glacier  into  the  open  air. 
But  a  Swiss  clergyman,  a  spiritual  shepherd,  M. 
Mouron,  was  leaning  on  the  edge  of  a  fissure  to 
explore  a  remarkable  formation  over  the  brink,  when 
the  staff  on  which  he  rested  gave  way,  and  he  fell, 
only  to  be  drawn  out  again  a  mangled  corpse.  A 
man  was  let  down  by  a  rope,  and  after  two  or  three 
unsuccessful  expeditions,  found  him  at  last,  and  was 
drawn  up  with  the  body  in  his  arms. 

Coming  down  from  the  hill,  we  had  hard  work  in 
crossing  some  dangerous  clefts  in  the  rocks,  and  once 


120  SWITZERLAND. 

I  planted  my  Alpen-stock  firmly,  as  I  thought,  in  the 
thin  soil,  and  leaped ;  the  spike  failed ;  the  foot  of 
the  staff  slipped  on  and  left  the  steel  in  the  ground, 
and  I  was  sprawling  generally  along  down  the  hill : 
fortunately  I  recovered  my  foothold,  and  came  down 
standing  !  And  this  is  a  good  place  in  which  to  say 
that  shoes  with  iron  nails  in  the  soles  are  not  the  best 
for  walking  over  these  mountains :  a  good  pair  of 
boots  with  double  soles  have  served  me  many  times, 
sticking  fast  in  the  face  of  a  slippery  rock,  while 
travellers  shod  with  iron  have  been  sliding  down 
with  no  strength  of  sole  to  resist  the  gravitation. 
But  I  met  with  no  such  misfortune  in  all  my  travels 
over  the  most  dangerous  passes,  and  under  circum- 
stances of  trial  not  often  exceeded  by  those  who 
wander  in  these  parts. 

We  had  several  sorts  of  weather  in  this  expedition 
to  the  source  of  the  Aar.  The  misty  morning  was 
succeeded  by  a  glowing  sun  at  noon,  followed  by 
clouds  and  rain.  When  this  was  coming,  we  thought 
it  time  to  be  going,  and  gathering  a  few  flowers, 
as  usual,  on  the  verge  of  the  cold  beds  of  ice,  we 
turned  our  weary  steps  towards  the  Hospice.  It 
was  our  good  fortune  just  then  to  meet  an  Italian 
artist  who  had  lost  his  way,  and  we  had  the  pleasure 
of  guiding  him  to  the  Hospice.  Wandering  with  his 
knapsack  and  port  folio,  in  search  of  the  beautiful 


GLACIERS    OF   THE   AAK.  121 

in  nature,  which  he  sketched  by  the  way,  it  was  of 
no  great  consequence  to  him,  in  which  direction  he 
travelled,  but  a  storm  was  now  at  hand,  it  was 
rapidly  growing  cold,  and  he  was  goirg  every 
moment  farther  from  any  place  of  shelter. 

We  were  soon  housed  safely  in  the  Hospice  ;  and 
glad  enough  to  stretch  ourselves  on  a  bed  after  the 
walk  of  the  morning.  It  was  hard  to  keep  warm 
anywhere  else  but  in  bed.  The  house  was  yet  so 
unfinished  and  open,  and  the  storm  increasing  every 
moment ;  a  wretched  old  stove  in  one  corner  of  the 
eating-roon,  scarcely  giving  any  heat  with  the  few 
sticks  of  fuel  we  were  able  to  find.  We  wrapped 
blankets  around  us,  and  tried  to  write,  and  when  that 
proved  to  be  more  than  we  could  accomplish  under 
the  difficulties,  I  took  my  Bible  and  read  to  my 
German  friend  some  of  the  sublimest  passages  in  the 
Psalms,  where  the  Lord  is  revealed  among  the  moun- 
tains, and  his  majesty  portrayed  by  the  loftiest  of  his 
works.  He  listened  with  interest,  and  when  I  laid 
aside  the  book,  he  asked  for  it,  and  read  it  long  and 
earnestly. 

As  the  evening  drew  on,  a  few  travellers  began  to 
drop  in,  and  at  seven  o'clock  a  company,  much  like 
the  one  of  last  night,  but  all  with  new  faces,  sat  down 
to  supper. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

MOUNTAINS,   STREAMS   AND   FALLS. 

Pedestrianism — Mountain  Torrents — Fall  of  the  Handek — The  Guide  and  his 
Little  Ones— Falls  of  the  Keichenbach— Perilous  Point  of  View. 


OT  in  the  best  of  spirits,  nor  in  as 
good  condition  as  a  pedestrian  could 
wish,  I  set  off  the  next  morning, 
with  my  young  friends.  We  would 
have  felt  better  but  for  a  foolish 
resolution  to  carry  our  own  knap- 
sacks and  overcoats  and  to  make 
one  day's  journey  without  guide 
or  mule.  Success  is  apt  to  make 
one  proud ;  and  we  had  improved  so  much  in  our 
walking  with  each  day's  experience,  that  we  actually 
began  to  think  we  could  do  anything  in  that  line. 
The  storm  of  the  night  before  had  gone  by,  and  a 
clear  cool  day  encouraged  us.  Alas,  we  knew  not 
(122) 


MOUNTAINS,    STREAMS    AND    FALLS.  123 

how  soon,  in  the  midst  of  glaciers,  and  in  sight  of 
dazzling  snow-drifts,  the  hot  sun  would  thaw  our 
resolution,  and  compel  us  to  call  lustily  for  help, 
when  no  Hercules  would  be  at  hand  to  lend  us  aid. 

Not  a  wilder  or  more  romantic  path  had  we  found 
than  the  one  which  led  us  out  of  the  vale  of  the 
Grimsel,  The  river  Aar  is  by  our  side,  leaping  from 
ledge  to  ledge  in  its  rapid  descent ;  dashing  now 
against  rocks  and  foaming  around  them  and  onward, 
as  if  maddened  by  every  obstacle  and  brooking  no 
delay.  Water  in  motion  is  always  beautiful.  Here 
on  our  right  hand  a  streamlet  is  falling  from  the 
giddy  height  of  a  thousand  feet  above  us.  At  first  it 
-slips  along  on  the  edge  of  the  rocks,  as  if  afraid  to 
fall,  and  then  with  a  graceful  bound  it  clears  the  side 
of  the  mountain,  and  comes  down  to  a  lower  level, 
where  it  reposes  for  a  moment  in  a  basin  made  with- 
out hands,  and  again  it  flows  along  down  like  a  long 
white  robe  suspended  on  the  hill  side,  tastefully 
winding  itself,  as  in  folds. 

In  full  view,  but  far  above  us  the  snow  lies  fresh 
and  white,  for  much  of  it  fell  there  yesterday  :  and 
among  the  clouds  as  they  roll  open  and  let  us  see 
their  beds,  the  blue  glacier  lies.  Some  of  the  views 
along  here  are  exceedingly  grand,  and  in  the  midst 
of  barrenness  that  can  hardly  be  excelled,  the  soul 
feels  that  enough  is  here  to  make  a  woild,  though 


124:  SWITZERLAND. 

there  is  little  vegetation,  and  not  a  human  habitation. 
We  frequently  cross  the  torrent  by  narrow  bridges, 
and  pause  on  each  of  them  to  watch  the  angry  waters 
whirling  underneath.  I  was  arrested  on  one  of  them 
by  the  sight  of  a  reservoir  hollowed  out  of  the  solid 
rock  by  the  water ;  it  would  hold  twenty  barrels, 
and  was  full.  The  torrent  was  now  raving  a  few 
inches  below,  while  the  water  within  was  as  placid 
in  the  sunshine  as  if  it  had  never  moved.  The 
contrast  was  beautiful.  Let  the  mad  world  rush  by, 
noisy,  turbulent  and  thoughtless :  it  is  better  to  be 
calm  and  trusting :  certainly  it  is  better  if  our  rest  is 
on  a  rock  which  cannot  be  moved. 

The  mountains  rise  suddenly  from  the  edge  of  the 
torrent,  and  there  is  barely  room  in  some  places  for 
the  path  and  the  stream.  There  is  great  danger  too 
in  travelling  here  in  the  winter  when  the  avalanches 
come  rushing  down  the  precipitous  sides  of  these 
mountains.  Their  work  of  destruction  is  lying  all 
around  us.  They  sweep  across  the  path  and  for  a 
long  distance  have  laid  the  rock  perfectly  bare,  and 
polished  it  so  smoothly,  that  there  is  constant  danger 
of  sliding  off  into  the  gulf  by  the  side  of  the  way. 
Grooves  have  been  cut  in  the  rock,  that  the  feet  of 
the  mules  may  have  some  support,  but  a  prudent 
traveller  will  trust  to  his  own  feet  and  his  staff,  and 
tread  cautiously.  We  become  so  accustomed  to 


MOUNTAINS,    STREAMS    AND   FALLS.  125 

these  dangerous  places,  that  we  pass  them  without 
emotion  ;  but  there  is  never  a  season  without  its  fatal 
accidents  to  travellers,  and  none  but  fool-hardy  per- 
sons will  needlessly  expose  their  lives.  An  American 
family  returned  home  a  few  days  ago,  having  left  the 
mangled  corpse  of  their  son,  a  lad  of  twelve  years,  in 
some  frightful  gorge  into  which  he  had  fallen  while 
riding  on  a  mule  in  the  midst  of  the  Alps.  We  fre- 
quently hear  of  painful  facts  like  these,  yet  there  is 
not  a  pass  in  Switzerland  which  may  not  be  safely 
made  with  prudence  and  coolness. 

One  of  the  finest  cascades  we  had  yet  seen  was  on 
our  right,  after  we  had  made  about  five  miles  from 
the  hospice.  Its  width  of  stream,  volume  of  water, 
and  great  height,  entitle  it  to  a  name  and  a  record 
which  it  has  not ;  and  this  has  frequently  appeared  to 
me  strange  in  this  journey  ;  that  falls  in  Switzerland, 
of  comparatively  little  beauty,  have  been  painted  and 
praised  the  world  over,  while  others  of  more  romantic 
and  impressive  features  have  no  place  in  the  hand- 
books, but  are  strictly  anonymous.  The  one  we  are 
now  speaking  of,  attracted  our  attention  as  decidedly 
more  interesting  than  any  we  had  seen  among  the 
mountains,  and  in  this  opinion  I  presume  others  will 
agree.  Its  misfortune  is  that  it  is  within  a  mile  of 
the  HANDED,  which  we  are  now  approaching.  A 
huge  log-hut  received  us,  and  we  found  refreshments 


126  SWITZERLAND. 

such  as  might  be  expected  in  a  wilderness  like  this. 
Sour  bread  and  sour  wine,  with  strong  cheese,  and  a 
strange-looking  pie,  composed  of  materials  into  which 
it  was  not  prudent  to  inquire,  gave  us  a  lunch  that 
might  have  been  worse.  We  were  glad  to  get  it,  but 
even  more  pleased  to  find  a  place  where  we  could  lay 
down  our  burdens,  under  which  we  had  been  groaning 
for  an  hour.  This  pedestrianism  in  the  Alps  is  very 
well  to  talk  about,  but  it  is  not  the  most  agreeable 
mode  of  travelling  to  one  who  is  accustomed  only  to 
a  sedentary  life.  We  could  find  no  mules  here,  how- 
ever, but  meeting  a  sturdy  fellow  who  was  going  up 
the  pass,  and  who  was  a  guide  but  not  just  now 
engaged,  we  made  a  bargain  with  him  to  turn  about 
and  carry  our  traps  to  Meyringen.  He  was  on  his 
way  over  the  Grimsel  into  Canton  Yallais  to  buy 
eggs  and  butter,  which  he  and  his  son,  who  was  with 
him,  would  bring  back  to  sell  in  the  lower  valleys. 
This  is  the  way  in  which  the  traffic  among  the  can- 
tons is  chiefly  carried  on.  We  are  constantly  meeting 
the  traders,  men  and  women,  with  long  baskets  or 
wooden  cans  on  their  backs,  trudging  over  these 
mountains,  exchanging  the  produce  of  one  part  of  the 
country  for  that  of  another.  And  this  business  is 
driven  in  winter  as  well  as  summer,  and  many  lose 
their  lives  in  the  snow,  or  are  overwhelmed  by  the 
avalanches.  Our  man  now  sent  his  boy  on  alone ; 


MOUNTAINS,    STREAMS    AND   FALLS.  127 

gave  him  a  few  directions  as  to  what  articles  he 
should  buy,  and  where  to  wait  his  return,  and  then 
set  off  with  us.  I  was  astonished  that  a  father  would 
trust  a  lad  of  such  tender  years  (he  was  not  more  than 
twelve),  to  go  off  on  such  an  expedition  alone,  in  such 
a  region  as  this ;  and  after  they  had  parted,  I  slipped 
some  money  into  the  little  fellow's  hand,  and  said  a 
cheering  word  or  two,  for  I  felt  as  if  it  were  cruel 
thus  to  leave  him. 

The  river  Aar  has  been  rushing  along  by  us,  and 
now  it  has  reached  the  verge  of  a  precipice  more 
than  a  hundred  feet  high.  At  this  point  another 
stream  of  only  less  volume  forces  its  way  across  the 
path,  and  dashes  boldly  into  the  Aar  on  the  brink  of 
the  fall.  Like  two  frantic  lovers  they  take  the  mad 
leap  together  into  the  fearful  gulf.  Standing  above 
the  brow  of  the  fall,  and  looking  into  the  dark  abyss, 
where  the  vast  column  of  water  stands,  silvered  at 
the  summit,  spread  and  broken  into  foam  as  it  reaches 
the  base,  with  clouds  of  spray  rising  from  the  boiling 
depths  below,  we  see  a  cataract  that  combines  more 
of  the  sublime  with  the  very  beautiful  than  any  other 
in  Switzerland.  After  we  had  gazed  upon  it  from  the 
bridge  at  the  brow,  we  went  around  and  down 
through  the  forest,  and  reached  the  ledge  from  which 
we  could  look  up  and  out  upon  the  column  of  waters 
now  pouring  before  us  in  exceeding  strength.  A 


128  SWITZERLAND. 

faint  rainbow  trembled  midway,  but  the  pine  trees 
were  too  thick  to  admit  the  sun's  rays  in  full  blaze 
upon  the  face  of  the  fall.  But  the  surrounding 
scenery  adds  so  much  to  the  gloomy  grandeur  of  the 
scene,  that  I  am  quite  willing  to  write  this  down  as 
a  real  cataract,  a  wonderful  leap  and  rush  of  waters, 
in  the  midst  of  a  ravine  of  terrific  construction ; 
filling  the  mind  with  the  strongest  sense  of  wildness, 
horror,  desolation  and  destruction,  while  the  image  of 
beauty  in  the  water  and  the  bow,  plays  constantly 
over  the  face  of  all.  "We  left  it  with  strong  emotions 
of  pleasurable  excitement,  and  shall  retain  the  recol- 
lections of  the  falls  of  the  Aar  for  many  days. 

The  path  by  and  by  led  under  an  extraordinary 
projection  of  rock,  shelving  over,  and  making  a 
pavilion.  The  descent  became  more  rapid,  until  we 
took  to  a  long  flight  of  stone  steps  in  the  path  :  and 
then  on  a  lower  grade,  we  came  upon  meadow  land, 
through  which  the  grass  had  been  cut  away  for  foot 
passengers  to  make  a  shorter  course  than  that  by 
which  the  horses  must  find  their  way  down.  We 
entered  a  little  cottage  and  refreshed  ourselves  again, 
with  coffee  and  milk,  and  had  some  pleasant  talk  with 
the  old  lady  and  one  or  two  of  the  neighbors  who 
had  dropped  down  from  some  mountain  home  ;  for  it 
is  even  pleasant,  if  no  useful  knowledge  is  gathered, 
to  learn  the  thoughts  and  feelings  of  these  secluded 


MOUNTAINS,   STKEAMS   AND   FALLS.  129 

people,  and  to  find  that  enjoyment,  and  contentment 
can  exist  as  truly  and  beautifully  in  the  dreary 
heights  of  these  Alpine  pasturages,  as  in  the  courts 
of  kings  :  and  a  little  more  so. 

For  we  were  not  very  far  above  a  lovely  valley, 
one  of  the  sweetest  spots  that  I  carry  in  my  memory. 
It  is  surprising  how  suddenly  the  line  of  barrenness 
is  passed,  and  the  region  of  fruits  and  abundant 
vegetation  bursts  upon  you  in  this  country.  We  had 
not  been  two  hours  from  dreary  and  inhospitable 
Guttanen,  when  we  emerged  from  the  narrow  defile 
into  a  vale,  a  plain,  a  basin  of  rare  loveliness  for 
situation  and  embellishment.  Level  as  a  threshing 
floor,  with  a  hundred  Swiss  cotages  scattered  over  it, 
and  each  of  them  surrounded  with  a  garden  stored 
with  fruits,  apples,  pears,  and  the  like,  while  a  stream 
flowing  through  the  midst  of  it  divided  the  vale  into 
two  settlements,  in  one  of  which  a  neat  church  sent 
up  its  graceful  spire.  We  had  been  loitering  along 
down,  and  it  was  now  drawing  toward  evening  :  the 
bell  of  the  old  church  was  ringing  for  evening 
prayers,  and  the  people,  a  few  of  them,  were  gather- 
ing in  their  sanctuary  as  we  passed.  Four  moun- 
tains, each  of  them  a  distinct  pyramid,  rise  on  as 
many  sides  of  this  valley,  and  seem  at  once  to  shut 
it  from  the  world,  and  to  stand  around  it  as  towers 
of  defence,  as  the  mountains  are  round  about 

6* 


130  .  SWITZERLAND. 

Jerusalem.  This  is  the  Yale  of  Upper  Hasli ;  the 
river  Aar  flows  through  it ;  on  the  right  as  we  are 
going,  is  the  village  of  Im-Hof,  and  on  the  left  the 
settlement  is  called  Im-Grund.  "We  passed  a  low 
house,  like  all  the  rest,  and  three  little  children  in  a 
row,  broke  out  with  a  song,  a  sweet  Psalm  tune,  such 
as  our  Sabbath  school  children  would  sing.  We 
stopped  to  listen,  and  the  guide  stood  with  us  in  front 
of  the  group,  while  they  sang  one  after  another  of 
their  native  melodies  as  birds  of  the  forest  would 
warble  an  evening  song.  The  youngest  was  not 
more  than  two  years  old ;  and  when  we  had  given 
them  some  money  for  their  music,  I  took  the  little 
thing  by  the  hand,  and  said,  "  Come  away  with  me." 
The  guide  took  it  by  the  other,  and  it  trotted  along 
between  us  with  so  much  readiness,  that  it  occurred 
to  me  instantly  that  these  might  be  the  children  of 
the  man  who  was  with  me.  I  said  to  him,  "  Are 
these  yours  ?"  "  Tes  Sir,"  said  he,  and  catching  up 
the  little  thing  in  his  arms,  he  kissed  it  fondly,  and 
carried  it  on  with  all  the  burdens  already  on  his 
back.  When  he  had  put  it  down  and  the  children 
had  returned,  I  asked  him  why  it  was  that  no  sign  of 
recognition  passed  between  him  and  his  children 
when  we  first  came  up  to  them  as  they  stood  by  the 
side  of  the  house.  He  told  me  that  he  had  taught 
them  to  receive  him  in  this  way  when  he  came  by 


MOUNTAINS,    STREAMS    AND   FALLS.  131 

with  strangers,  whom  he  was  guiding,  and  as  they 
sang  to  receive  what  money  might  be  given  them  it 
was  better  that  it  should  not  be  known  there  was  any 
relation  between  him  and  them.  I  had  detected  the 
connection  by  the  willingness  of  the  babe  to  follow 
us,  and  the  father  was  delighted  to  be  able  to  dis- 
cover himself  to  his  child,  and  to  take  it  for  a 
moment  in  his  arms.  This  incident  reminded  me  of 
a  striking  scene  in  the  well  known  history  of  William 
Tell,  where  the  tyrant  Gessler  confronts  the  son  with 
the  father,  and  they  both,  without  preconcert,  but  by 
a  common  instinct  of  caution,  deny  one  another, 
and  persist  in  the  denial  till  the  father  is  about  to 
die. 

Leaving  the  valley,  we  have  a  sharp  hill  to  climb. 
A  zig-zag  path  for  carriages  has  been  made  over  it 
at  great  expense  of  money  and  labor ;  so  that  this 
vale  may  be  reached  from  the  other  side.  The  hill 
must  at  some  distant  period  in  the  past  have  resisted 
the  progress  of  the  Aar,  and  this  romantic  valley 
was  probably  a  beautiful  lake  in  the  midst  of  these 
noble  mountains.  But  the  hill  by  some  convulsion 
has  been  rent  from  the  top  to  the  bottom,  and  the 
river  finds  its  way  through  a  fearful  cavern  ;  one  of 
the  most  awful  gorges  that  can  be  found  in  Switzer- 
land. After  crossing  the  hill  we  left  the  road,  and 
following  our  guide  for  twenty  minutes  came  to 


132  SWITZERLAND. 

the  mouth  of  the  cave,  that  leads  down  to  the  bed  of 
the  river,  where  it  is  rushing  through  with  frightful 
force  in  darkness  but  not  silence  ;  for  the  roar  of 
the  waters  is  repeated  among  the  rocks,  adding 
greatly  to  the  terror  of  the  scene.  It  is  only  half  an 
hour's  walk  from  the  Cave  to  Meyringen ;  but  we 
made  it  more  than  an  hour,  enjoying  the  fine  views 
that  opened  upon  us  as  we  stood  above  the  village. 
It  is  but  three  miles  across  the  plain,  and  as  I  look 
upon  the  splendid  cataract  of  the  Reichenback  fall- 
ing into  it  on  one  side,  and  the  Alpback  coming 
down  on  the  other,  and  streaming  cascades  in  great 
numbers  pouring  into  it  down  the  precipitous  sides 
of  the  mountains,  the  first  thought  that  strikes  the 
mind  is  of  the  danger  that  the  valley  would  be  filled 
with  water  one  of  these  days  and  the  people  driven 
out.  Such  a  calamity  has  indeed  occurred,  and  to 
guard  against  its  return,  a  stone  dyke  one  thousand 
feet  long  and  eight  feet  wide  has  been  built,  that  the 
swollen  river  may  be  conducted  with  safety  out  of 
the  vale.  Long  years  ago  the  mountain  torrent 
brought  down  a  mass  of  earth  with  it,  so  suddenly 
and  so  fearfully  that  in  one  brief  hour,  a  large  part 
of  the  village  was  buried  twenty  feet  deep,  and  the 
desolation  thus  wrought  still  appears  over  the  whole 
face  of  the  plain.  The  Church  has  a  black  line 
painted  on  it  to  mark  the  height  to  which  it  was 


MOUNTAINS,    STREAMS   AND   FALLS.  133 

filled  with  the  mud  and  water  in  this  deluge  of  1762. 
There  is  something  very  fearful  in  the  idea  of  dwell- 
ing in  a  region  subject  to  such  visitations.  But  there 
is  a  fine  race  of  men  and  women  here.  The  men  are 
spoken  of  as  models  for  strength  and  agility,  and  the 
matches  and  games  in  which  they  annually  contend 
with  the  champions  of  other  cantons  decide  their 
claims  to  the  distinction.  The  women  are  good  look- 
ing, and  that  is  more  than  I  can  say  for  most  of  the 
women  I  have  met  among  the  Alps  ;  where  the  hardy, 
exposed,  and  toilsome  life  they  lead,  in  poverty  and 
disease,  gives  them  such  a  look  as  I  cannot  bear  to 
see  in  a  female  face.  In  fact  I  could  not  tell  a  man 
from  a  woman  but  by  their  dress  in  many  parts  of 
the  mountains.  Now  we  are  down  in  the  region  of 
improved  civilization,  and  some  taste  in  dress  begins 
to  appear  among  the  women,  who  rig  themselves  out 
in  a  holiday  or  Sunday  suit  of  black  velvet  bodice, 
white  muslin  sleeves,  a  yellow  petticoat,  and  a  black 
hat  set  jauntingly  on  one  side  of  the  head,  with  their 
braided  hair  hanging  down  their  backs.  An  old 
woman  on  the  hill  at  whose  house  I  stopped  for  a 
drink,  told  me  I  ought  to  stay  there  till  next  Sunday 
and  see  them  all  come  out  of  church  ;  "  a  prettier 
sight  I  would  never  see  in  all  my  life." 

Coming  down  from  the  Hospice  of  the  Grimsel,  I 
was  filled  with  admiration  when  I  entered  the  valley 


134  SWITZERLAND. 

in  which  the  villages  of  Im-Hof  and  Im-Grund  lie, 
with  their  single  church  and  hundred  cottages. 
Naigle,  my  guide,  was  one  of  the  dwellers  in  this 
vale,  and  the  meeting  with  his  children  as  he  passed 
through  had  deeply  interested  me  in  the  place  and 
the  people.  I  wished  to  know  more  of  their  habits 
and  especially  I  would  know  the  spirit  and  the  power 
of  the  religion  which  these  people  professed.  They 
are  so  secluded  from  all  the  world,  so  girt  with  great 
mountains  and  compelled  to  look  upwards  whenever 
they  would  see  far,  that  it  seemed  to  me  they  must 
be  a  thoughtful  religious  people,  even  if  their  way  of 
religion  was  not  the  same  as  mine.  It  was  a  Protes- 

O 

tant  Canton,  and  so  far  their  faith  was  mine,  but 
there  is  a  wide  difference  between  the  faith  and  prac- 
tice of  many  churches  that  profess  Protestantism,  as 
there  is  also  in  the  churches  under  the  dominion  of 
the  Pope  of  Rome. 

Naigle  was  a  character.  I  was  sure  of  it  in  five 
minutes  after  he  was  in  my  service.  Six  feet  high  on 
a  perpendicular,  he  was  at  least  six  feet  four,  on  a 
curve,  for  long  service  in  carrying  heavy  burdens 
over  the  mountains  had  made  a  bend  in  his  back 
like  a  bow  that  is  never  unstrung.  I  had  asked  him 
how  many  of  those  children  he  had,  and  he  had  told 
me  eight :  and  he  did  not  improve  in  my  good  opin- 
ion when  he  offered  as  the  only  objection  to  selling 


MOUNTAINS,   STREAMS   AND  FALLS.  135 

me  the  youngest,  that  he  would  be  sent  to  prison  if 
he  did.  Yet  Naigle  loved  his  children  I  am  sure, 
and  would  not  part  with  one  of  them  unless  for  the 
sake  of  improving  its  prospects  for  the  future.  His 
own  were  dark  enough.  One  franc  a  day,  less  than 
twenty  cents  of  our  money,  is  the  price  of  a  day's 
labor  in  the  hardest  work  of  the  year,  though  the 
very  men  who  are  glad  to  get  this  of  their  neighbors, 
will  not  guide  a  stranger  through  their  country,  or 
carry  his  bag,  for  less  than  five  francs  for  eight  or  ten 
hours.  The  women  will  work  out  doors  all  day  for 
less  than  a  man's  wages,  and  perform  the  same  kind 
of  labor.  This  Naigle  was  a  hard-working  man,  it 
was  very  plain,  and  there  was  a  decided  streak  of 
good  sense  in  him  that  assured  me,  he  could  give  me 
much  valuable  information,  in  spite  of  that  misera- 
ble mixture  of  German  and  French  which  was  the 
only  language  he  could  speak.  Fortunately  I 
had  my  young  German  friend  with  me,  and  we  man- 
aged among  us  to  extract  from  Naigle  all  we  desireu. 
We  had  good  rooms  at  Meyringen,  and  Naigle  was 
to  stay  over  night  there  and  return  to  his  fjamily  in 
the  morning.  I  asked  him  where  he  would  sleep  ; 
and  he  said  "  in  the  stable,"  a  lodgment  I  afterwards 
found  to  be  common  in  this  and  other  European  coun- 
tries :  not  in  rooms  fitted  up  over  the  stalls,  as  in 
America,  but  in  bunks  by  the  side  of  the  horses  :  in 


136  SWITZERLAND. 

the  midst  of  foul  atmosphere  which  would  be  enough, 
I  should  suppose,  to  stifle  any  man  in  the  course  of 
the  night.  Yet  I  have  heard  a  German  gentleman 
say  that  there  is  no  smell  so  pleasant  to  him  as  that 
of  a  stable,  and  I  record  it  as  another  evidence  of  the 
truth  of  the  adage  "  there  is  no  disputing  about  tastes" 
Naigle  came  up  to  my  room  in  the  evening,  sat 
down  on  a  trunk,  and  answered  questions  for  an  hour 
or  two,  but  I  can  put  all  I  learned  of  him  into  a  mod- 
erate compass,  though  it  will  want  the  freshness  and 
often  the  peculiar  turn  of  thought  with  which  he 
imparted  it. 

Naigle  told  me  first  of  his  family  which  he  had 
great  difficulty  in  supporting  on  the  low  wages  he 
received,  and  the  small  profits  he  could  make  on  his 
trade  with  the  neighboring  valleys.  At  least  half  of 
the  year,  he  said,  they  do  not  have  a  particle  of  meat 
in  the  house  :  they  live  chiefly  on  potatoes  and  beans, 
with  bread  and  milk :  few  vegetables,  and  these  not 
the  most  nutritious.  The  snow  comes  on  so  early  in 
autumn  and  lies  so  late  in  the  spring  that  the  season 
for  cultivation  is  very  short,  though  they  try  to  make 
the  most  of  it  while  it  lasts,  as  they  do  of  the  little 
land  in  their  valley,  and  on  the  mountain  sides.  Yet 
poverty  often  stares  them  in  the  face  vith  a  melan- 
choly threat  of  famine.  No  people  on  oarth  dwell  in 


MOUNTAINS,    STREAMS   AND   FALLS.  137 

such  glorious  scenery  and  in  such  destitution  of  the 
real  comforts  of  life. 

But  what  are  the  morals  of  such  a  people  ?  Are 
the  virtues  of  social  life  held  in  honor  among  them, 
and  are  the  children  of  these  mountain  homes  trained 
up  in  the  way  they  should  go  ?  One  of  the  severest 
replies  I  have  had  was  given  to  me  by  a  Swiss  guide, 
who  had  followed  his  business  of  showing  strangers 
through  the  country  for  thirty  years :  and  when  he 
told  me  he  bad  three  sons  grown  up  to  manhood  I 
asked  him  if  they  were  guides  also  ?  He  said,  "  No,  he 
never  allowed  them  to  travel  about  with  foreigners  : 
the  boys  learned  too  many  bad  words  and  ways  in 
that  business."  Very  likely  intercourse  with  travel- 
lers is  not  happy  on  the  morals  of  any  people,  but  it 
is  little  that  the  dwellers  in  these  valleys  see  of  for- 
eigners, who  push  through  them  without  pausing  even 
to  spend  a  night.  Naigle  gave  me  however  to  under- 
stand that  the  standard  of  social  morals  was  very  low 
among  them,  and  this  was  confirmed  by  all  that  I 
learned  from  tke  various  classes  of  men  with  whom 
I  came  in  contact  during  my  journey  in  this  country. 
It  is  true  everywhere,  that  virtue  does  not  flourish  in 
the  extremes  of  poverty  or  wealth. 

He  was  greatly  interested  in  the  little  church,  and 
was  pleased  to  answer  all  my  inquiries.  The  pastor, 
he  said,  was  a  good  man  who  was  kind  to  them  in 


138  SWITZERLAND. 

sickness,  visiting  them  to  give  the  consolations  of  the 
gospel,  and  especially  at  such  times  did  they  prize  his 
instructions  and  prayers.  This  service  was  rendered 
freely  to  the  poorest  among  them,  on  whom  the  pastor 
calls  as  soon  as  he  hears  that  they  are  in  distress,  and 
he  is  always  engaged  in  looking  among  his  flock  to 
find  those  who  have  need  of  his  peculiar  care.  The 
same  good  shepherd  has  charge  of  the  parish  school, 
to  which  all  the  children  are  sent ;  and  if  the  parents 
are  able  to  pay  anything  toward  their  children's  edu- 
cation, they  are  expected  to  do  so,  but  if  not  they  are 
not  deprived  of  the  privileges  of  the  school.  Here 
they  are  taught  to  read,  to  write,  and  to  keep  ac- 
counts ;  but  more  than  all  this,  they  are  instructed  in 
the  catechism  of  the  church,  and  are  examined  often 
on  it,  and  encouraged  to  become  acquainted  with  the 
doctrines  and  duties  of  religion.  It  was  hard  for  me  to 
convey  my  idea  to  Naigle  when  I  sought  to  learn  of 
him,  if  the  good  pastor  required  of  the  young  people 
any  proof  of  regeneration,  or  a  change  of  heart,  before 
giving  them  the  second  sacrament.  He  said  their 
children  are  all  baptized  in  infancy,  and  admitted  to 
the  Lord's  Supper  when  they  are  old  enough,  and 
good  enough,  and  understand  the  doctrines  taught  in 
the  school. 

"  But  what  if  one  of  those  who  has  come  to  the 


MOUNTAINS,    STREAMS   AND    FALLS.  139 

holy  sacrament  falls  into  some  sin,  as  stealing,  or  pro- 
fane swearing  ?" 

"  O,  in  that  case  he  is  not  allowed  to  come  to  the 
sacrament,  till  he  has  repented  and  reformed.  The 
minister  is  very  strict  about  that,  and  the  people  who 
belong  to  the  church,  that  is,  those  who  wish  to  be 
considered  as  good  Christian  people,  never  indulge  in 
any  of  those  things  which  are  forbidden  by  the  Bible. 
There  are  many  loose  people  in  the  .valley  who  have 
no  care  for  God  or  man,  but  have  no  connection  with 
the  church." 

On  the  whole,  I  was  led  to  infer  from  what  Naigle 
said  that  the  church  of  the  Upper  Hasli  valley  is 
about  in  the  same  condition  with  hundreds  of  others 
in  this  and  other  lands.  There  is  in  the  midst  of  this 
mountain  scenery  far  removed  from  the  intercourse 
of  the  world,  where  a  newspaper  is  rarely  seen,  and 
few  books  are  ever  read,  a  little  people  among  whom 
God  has  some  friends,  who  in  their  way  are  striving 
to  serve  him,  and  whose  service  it  will  be  pleasure  to 
accept.  Many  of  them  have  only  a  form  of  religion. 
The  Romish  religion  that  surrounds  these  lands,  and 
which  is  so  admirably  framed  for  an  ignorant  and 
sensual  people,  pervades  the  minds  of  many  who  are 
Protestants  in  name,  and  who  cannot  be  taught,  or 
rather  will  not  learn,  that  salvation  is  only  by  faith 
in  the  Saviour.  That  other  gospel  which  gives  heav- 


140  SWITZERLAND. 

en  to  him  who  does  penance  for  his  great  sins,  and 
bows  often  to  the  picture  of  a  handsome  woman,  is 
the  religion  for  a  people  who  cannot  read,  or  who 
have  no  hooks  if  they  can.  Ignorance  and  Romanism 
go  hand  in  hand. 

My  estimate  of  the  Swiss  character  has  wofully  de- 
preciated since  I  have  travelled  among  these  moun- 
tains. With  a  history  such  as  Greece  might  be  proud 
of,  and  a  race  of  heroes  that  Rome  never  excelled  in 
the  days  when  women  would  be  mothers  only  to  have 
sons  for  warriors  ;  the  Swiss  people  now  are  at  a  point 
of  national  and  social  depression  painful  to  contem- 
plate. They  are  indebted  largely  to  the  defences  of 
nature  for  the  comparative  liberty  they  enjoy,  and 
perhaps  to  the  same  seclusion  is  to  be  referred  their 
want  of  a  thousand  comforts  of  life,  which  an  impro- 
ved state  of  society  brings.  All  the  romance  of  a 
Swiss  cottage  is  taken  out  of  a  traveller's  mind,  the 
moment  he  enters  one  of  these  cabins  and  seeks  re- 
freshment or  rest.  The  saddest  marks  of  poverty  meet 
him  in  the  door.  The  same  roof  is  the  shelter  of  the 
man,  woman  and  beast.  The  same  room  is  often  the 
bed  chamber  of  all.  Scanty  food,  and  that  miserably 
prepared,  is  consumed  without  regard  to  those  domes- 
tic arrangements  which  make  life  at  home  a  luxury. 
There  is  no  future  to  the  mind  of  a  Swiss  youth.  He 
lives  to  live  as  his  father  lived — and  that  is  the  end 


MOUNTAINS,   STKEAMS   AND   FALLS.  141 

of  life  with  him.  Perhaps  he  may  have  a  gun,  and 
in  that  case,  to  be  the  best  shot  in  the  valley  may 
fill  his  ambition  :  or  if  he  is  strong  in  the  arms  and 
legs  he  may  aim  at  distinction  in  the  games  which 
once  a  year  are  held  at  some  hamlet  in  the  Canton, 
where  the  .wrestlers  and  runners  contend  for  victory, 
and  others  throw  weights  and  leap  bars  as  of  old  in 
Greece,  when  kings  were  not  ashamed  to  enter  the 
lists.  Many  of  the  youth  of  Switzerland  are  willing 
to  sell  themselves  into  the  service  of  foreign  powers, 
as  soldiers — Swiss  soldiers — hired  to  be  shot  at,  and 
shoot  any  body  a  foreign  despot  may  send  them  to 
slay  :  a  service  so  degrading,  and  at  the  same  time 
so  decidedly  hazardous  to  life  and  limb,  with  so  poor 
a  chance  for  pay,  that  none  but  a  people  far  gone  in 
social  degradation  would  be  willing  thus  to  make 
merchandise  of  their  blood.  Yet  they  have  fought 
battles  bravely  with  none  of  the  stimulus  of  patriot- 
ism, and  their  blood  has  been  as  freely  poured  out 
for  tyrants  who  hired  them,  as  if  they  were  bleeding 
for  their  own  and  the  land  of  William  Tell. 

Falls  of  the  Reichenbach. 

I  had  enjoyed  all  the  pleasures  of  pedestrianism 
that  I  wished,  and  told  Naigle  to  get  me  a  horse  for 
to-morrow.  He  was  willing  to  go  on  with  us  for  a 
day  or  two  more,  but  I  gave  him  a  trifle  for  his  wife, 


142  SWITZERLAND. 

and  to  pay  him  for  his  evening  while  I  kept  him  talk- 
ing when  he  would  have  been  sleeping ;  and  after  he 
had  brought  me  a  man  who  would  go  with  his  horse, 
and  carry  me  on  over  the  "Wengern  Alp,  I  dismissed 
him.  There  is  nothing  in  Swiss  travelling  more  an- 
noying than  the  impositions  practised  upon  you  by- 
those  who  have  horses  or  mules  for  hire.  The  price 
for  a  horse  is  at  the  rate  usually  of  about  ten  francs 
or  two  dollars  a  day  ;  but  if  you  are  not  to  return  the 
next  day  to  the  place  from  which  you  started,  (and 
you  rarely  or  never  do,)  you  must  pay  the  same  price 
for  the  horse  to  come  back.  The  driver  manages  to 
find  a  traveller  to  come  back  with,  and  so  gets  double 
pay  both  ways  in  nine  trips  out  of  ten.  If  the  busi- 
ness were  left  open  to  competition  without  the  help 
of  government,  the  price  would  be  reduced.  Naigle 
brought  me  a  man  who  would  go  with  his  horse  as 
far  as  I  liked  for  ten  francs  a  day,  and  nothing  for 
return  money,  but  he  desired  me  to  set  off  in  the 
morning  on  foot,  and  he  would  be  a  few  minutes  off, 
out  of  the  village,  for  if  the  landlords  who  keep 
horses  to  let,  knew  that  he  was  at  the  business  on  his 
own  hook,  they  would  molest  him.  He  served  me 
well,  and  I  paid  him  to  his  entire  satisfaction. 

Leaving  Meyringen  on  a  lovely  morning,  the  last 
of  August,  crossing  the  Aar  by  a  bridge,  I  came  at 
once  to  the  Baths  of  Keichenbach,  where  there  is  a 


MOUNTAINS,    8TEEAM8   AND   FALLS.  143 

good  hotel,  said  to  be  better  than  those  at  Meyrin- 
gen.  The  grounds  about  are  tastefully  arranged,  and 
an  establishment  fitted  up  for  invalids,  with  every 
convenience  for  warm  and  cold  baths  on  a  moderate 
scale.  If  plenty  of  mountain  water  and  mountain  air 
will  make  sick  people  well,  here  is  a  fine  place  for 
them  to  come  and  be  cured.  I  climbed  the  moun- 
tain in  haste,  to  get  the  finer  view  of  the  Reichen- 
bach  Fall,  whose  roar  I  had  heard,  and  the  spray  of 
which  was  rising  continually  before  me.  I  could  see 
the  torrent  as  it  took  its  first  leap  out  of  the  forest, 
but  it  plunged  instantly  out  of  sight  into  a  deep 
abyss,  and  I  must  ascend  to  its  brow,  and  see  the 
rush  of  waters  as  they  descend  into  the  gorge.  The 
path  to  those  coming  down  is  very  difficult,  so  steep, 
indeed,  that  it  is  safer  and  pleasanter  to  leave  the 
horse  and  come  on  foot.  But  we  went  up  slowly  till 
we  reached  a  meadow  of  table  land,  which  we  were 
permitted  to  cross  on  paying  a  small  toll,  to  a  house 
which  has  been  built  at  the  point  where  the  best 
view  of  the  fall  from  below  can  be  had.  It  is  almost 
a  shame  to  board  up  such  scenes  as  these,  and  compel 
a  man  to  look  through  a  window  at  a  scene  where  he 
would  have  nothing  around  him  but  the  mountain, 
flood  and  sky.  The  young  woman  was  very  civil, 
and  offered  us  woodwork  for  sale,  and  a  view  through 
colored  glass,  and  a  subscription-book  to  record  our 


144:  SWITZERLAND. 

donations  for  the  construction  of  the  foot-path,  and  we 
finally  had  the  privilege  of  taking  a  look  in  silence. 
A  narrow,  but  no  mean  stream,  plunging  TWO  THOU- 
SAND feet  makes  a  cataract  before  which  the  spectator 
stands  with  awe.  The  leap  is  not  made  at  once,  yet 
the  river  rests  but  twice  in  all  that  distance,  and  only 
for  a  moment  then.  The  point  of  view  where  we  are 
now  beholding  it,  is  midway  of  the  upper  and  grand- 
est of  these  successive  falls.  The  fury  of  the  descend- 
ing torrent  is  terrible.  The  spray  rises  in  perpetual 
clouds  from  the  dread  abyss  into  which  the  river 
leaps.  It  might  be  a  bottomless  abyss,  so  far  as 
human  penetration  can  discover,  for  no  arm  can 
fathom  it,  no  eye  can  pierce  the  dark  cavern  where 
the  waters  boil  and  roar,  and  whence  they  issue  only 
to  make  another  leap  into  the  vale  below.  The  bow 
of  God  is  on  the  brow  of  the  cataract.  I  do  so  love 
to  find  it  there,  not  more  for  its  exceeding  beauty 
than  the  feeling  of  hope  and  safety  it  always  inspires. 
We  counted  all  the  colors  as  it  waved  and  smiled  so 
fondly  in  the  spray,  as  if  it  loved  its  birth-place. — 
Having  had  the  finest  opportunity  of  seeing  the  fall 
from  this  point,  we  did  not  return  across  the  field  to 
the  horses,  but  took  the  foot-path  straight  up  the 
mountain,  over  a  rough  and  toilsome  way,  led  on  by 
a  little  lad  who  seemed  anxious  to  do  us  the  favor. 
He  guided  us  by  a  walk  of  twenty  minntes  to  the 


MOUNTAINS,    STREAMS   AND   FALLS. 

brink  of  the  precipice.  The  path  was  just  wide 
enough  for  one  person  to  pass  around  the  headland, 
holding  by  the  bushes  as  we  walked,  and  thus  by 
taking  turns  in  the  perilous  excursion,  we  went  to  the 
brow  of  the  cataract,  and  looked  down  the  front  of 
the  terrific  fall.  A  single  misstep  or  the  slipping  of 
a  foot,  might  plunge  the  curious  gazer  into  the  gulph ; 
yet  so  seductive  and  so  flattering  is  such  danger,  we 
rarely  have  the  least  sense  of  it  till  it  is  over.  Not 
the  water  only,  but  the  whole  prospect  from  this 
overhanging  cliff,  is  in  a  high  degree  sublime.  The 
plains  of  Meyringen,  tire  mountains  beyond,  from 
which  cascades  are  hanging  like  white  lace  vails  on 
the  green  hill-sides,  villages  and  scattered  cottages, 
the  river  Aar  shooting  swiftly  across  the  valley,  are 
now  in  full  view,  and  we  turn  away  reluctantly  from 
the  sight  to  resume  the  ascent. 

7 


CHAPTER  Yin. 


A     GLACIEK     AND    AVALANCHE. 

Alpine  Horn— Beggars— The  Rosenlaui  Glacier— Beautiful  Views— Glorious 
Mountain  Scenes — Mrs.  Kinney's  "Alps" — A  Lady  and  Babe — The  Great 
Scheidek— Grindelwald— Eagle  and  Bear— Battle  with  Bugs— Wengern 
Alp — A  real  Avalanche — The  Jungfrau. 

BEAUTIFUL  Chamois  was  stand- 
ing on  the  ledge  of  rock  that  over- 
hung the  path  as  I  turned  away 
from  the  Reichenbach  Fall,  and  I 
was  pleased  to  see  so  fine  a  speci- 
men of  the  animal  whose  home  is 
the  Alps  and  whose  pursuit  has  for 
ages  been  the  delight  of  the  moun- 
f-  ^3  taineer.  He  would  have  sprung 
from  crag  to  crag  at  my  approach  and  soon  disap- 
peared, had  he  not  been  held  by  a  string  in  the  hand 
of  a  bay  who  expected  a  few  coppers  for  showing  the 
animal.  This  is  but  one  of  a  hundred  ways  and 
(146) 


A    GLACIER   AND   AVALANCHE.  147 

means  of  begging  adopted  by  the  Swiss  peasantry. 
Of  all  ages  from  the  infant  to  extreme  decrepitude, 
they  plant  themselves  along,  the  highways  of  travel, 
and  by  every  possible  pretext  seek  to  obtain  the 
pence  of  the  traveller.  Some  are  glad  to  have  a  poor 
cretin  or  a  case  of  goitre  in  the  family,  that  they  may 
have  an  additional  plea  to  put  in  for  chanty.  Others 
sing  or  play  on  some  wretched  instrument,  and  the 
traveller  would  cheerfully  pay  them  something  to  be 
silent,  that  he  may  enjoy  the  beauties  of  the  world 
around  him  without  the  torment  of  their  music.  But 
the  Alpine  Horn  makes  music  to  which  the  hills  lis- 
ten. A  wooden  tube  nearly  ten  feet  long  and  three  in- 
ches in  diameter,  curved  at  the  mouth  which  is  slightly 
enlarged,  is  blown  with  great  strength  of  lungs,  and 
the  blast  at  first  harsh  and  startling  is  caught  by  the 
mountain  sides  and  returned  in  softened  strains,  echo- 
ing again  and  again  as  if  the  spirits  of  the  wood  were 
answering  to  the  calls  of  the  dwellers  in  the  vales. 
The  man  who  was  blowing,  had  but  one  hand,  and  after 
a  single  performance,  or  one  blast,  he  held  out  that 
hand  for  his  pay,  and  then  returned  to  his  instru- 
ment, making  the  hills  to  resound  again  with  his  wild 
notes. 

The  Rosenlaui  valley  into  which  we  now  enter  is 
a  green  and  sunny  plain,  where  the  verdure  is  as  rich 
and  the  fruits  as  fair  as  if  there  were  no  oceans  of 


14:8  SWITZERLAND. 

never  melting  ice  and  hills  of  snow  lying  all  around 
and  above  it.  On  either  side  the  bare  mountains  rise 
perpendicularly  :  the  Engel-Horner  or  Angel's  Peaks 
sending  their  shining  summits  so  far  into  the  heavens 
that  the  pagans  would  make  them  the  thrones  of 
gods,  and  the  Well-Horn,  and  Wetter-Horn,  bleak 
and  cold,  but  now  replendent  in  a  brilliant  sun  light. 
A  small  but  very  comfortable  inn  is  fitted  up  in  this 
valley  with  conveniences  for  bathing,  and  a  few  inva- 
lids are  always  here  for  the  benefit  of  the  air,  scenery 
and  the  mountain  baths.  We  rested  at  the  tavern, 
and  then  walked  a  mile  out  of  the  way  to  see  the  Gla- 
cier of  the  Rosenlaui.  After  a  short  ascent  we 
entered  a  fine  forest,  and  followed  the  gorge  through 
which  the  glacier  torrent  is  rushing :  an  awful  gorge 
a  thousand  feet  deep  it  seemed  to  me,  and  if  some 
mighty  shock  has  not  rent  these  rocks,  and  opened 
the  way  for  the  waters  that  are  now  roaring  in 
those  dark  mysterious  depths,  they  must  have  been 
a  thousand  years  in  wearing  out  the  channel  for 
themselves.  A  slight  bridge  is  thrown  across  the 
ravine,  and  a  terrible  pleasure  there  is  in  standing 
on  it  and  listening  to  the  mad  leaps  of  rocks  which 
the  peasants  are  prepared  to  launch  into  the  abyss, 
for  the  amusement  of  travellers.  I  shuddered  at 
the  thought  of  falling,  and  felt  a  glow  of  pleasing 
relief  when  I  was  away  from  the  tempting  verge.  I 


A   GLACIER   AND   AVALANCHE.  149 

never  could  explain  to  myself  the  source  of  that 
half  formed  desire  which  so  many,  perhaps  all  have, 
of  trying  the  leap  when  standing  on  the  brow  of  a 
cataract,  the  verge  of  a  precipice,  the  summit  of  a 
lofty  tower.  It  is  often  a  question  whether  persons 
who  have  thus  perished,  designed  to  commit  suicide 
or  not.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  some  are  suddenly 
seized  with  this  undefined  desire  to  make  the  trial : 
the  mind  is  wrought  into  a  frenzy  of  excitement, 
dizziness  ensues,  and  in  a  moment  of  fear,  desire  and 
delirium  the  irresponsible  victim  leaps  into  the  gulf. 
Many  of  the  fearful  passes  of  the  Alps  have  their 
local  tragedies  of  this  sort,  and  I  was  not  disposed 
to  add  another.  We  soon  climbed  to  the  foot  of  the 
glacier.  We  have  come  to  a  mountain  of  emerald. 
The  sun  is  shining  on  it,  at  high  noon.  The  melting 
waters  have  cut  a  glorious  gateway  of  solid  crystal : 
we  step  within  and  beneath  the  arch.  A  ledge  of  ice 
affords  a  standing  place  for  the  cool  traveller  who 
may  plant  his  pike  staff  firmly  and  look  over  into  the 
depths  where  the  torrent  has  wrought  its  passage  and 
from  which  the  mists  are  curling  upwards.  The  sun- 
light streams  through  the  blue  domes  of  those 
caverns,  long  icicles  sparkle  in  the  roof,  and  jewels, 
crowns  and  thrones  of  ice  are  all  about  me  in  this 
crystal  cave.  Its  outer  surface  is  remarkable  for 
the  purity  of  the  ice,  its  perfect  freedom  from  that 


150  SWITZERLAND. 

deposit  of  earth  and  broken  stone  which  mars  the 
beauty  of  most  of  the  glaciers  of  Switzerland. 
Great  white  wreaths  are  twisted  on  its  brow,  and  on 
its  bosom  palaces  and  towers  are  brilliant  in  the  sun- 
light ;  and  from  the  side  of  it  the  Well-horn  and 
Wetter-horn  rise  like  giants  from  their  bed,  and 
stretch  themselves  away  into  the  clouds.  No  sight 
among  the  Alps  had  so  charmed  me  with  its  beauty 
and  sublimity.  These  hills  of  pure  ice,  this  great 
gateway  only  less  bright  in  the  sun  than  the  gates  of 
pearl,  cold  indeed,  but  with  flowers  and  evergreens 
cheating  the  senses  into  the  feeling  that  this  is  not 
real,  it  must  be  a  reproduction  of  fabled  palaces 
and  hills  of  diamonds,  and  mountains  of  light.  I  am 
sure  that  I  do  not  exaggerate :  the  memory  of  it  now 
that  I  recur  to  it  after  many  days  is  of  great  glory,  such 
as  the  eye  never  can  see  out  of  Switzerland,  and  the 
forms  of  beauty  and  the  thoughts  of  majesty,  awak- 
ened as  I  stood  before  and  beneath  and  upon  this 
glacier,  must  remain  among  the  latest  images  that 
will  fade  from  the  soul. 

Excited  by  what  I  had  seen  and  mindless  of  the 
path  by  which  I  had  ascended,  I  threw  myself  back 
upon  my  Alpen-stock  and  slid  down  the  face  of  a 
long  shelving  rock,  leaping  when  I  could,  and  gliding 
when  the  way  was  smooth,  and  reached  the  bridge 
and  the  ravine  in  safety,  though  the  guides  insisted 


A   GLACIER   AND   AVALANCHE.  151 

that  the  longest  way  around  was  the  surest  way 
down.  We  are  now  at  the  foot  of  lofty  mountains. 
The  warm  sun  is  loosening  the  masses  of  snow 
and  ice  and  we  are  constantly  heaving  the  roar 
of  the  avalanches.  At  first  it  startles  us,  as  if 
behind  the  clear  blue  sky  above  us  there  is  a  gath- 
ering storm :  the  sound  comes  rushing  down  and 
multiplied  by  echoes  themselves  re-echoed  from  the 
surrounding  hills,  the  thunder  is  forgotten  in  the 
majesty  of  this  music  of  the  mountains.  We  see 
nothing  from  which  these  voices  came.  There  are 
valleys  beyond  these  peaks  where  perhaps  the  foot 
of  man  has  never  trod,  and  He  who  directs  the  thun- 
derbolt when  it  falls,  is  guiding  these  ice-falls  into 
the  depths  of  some  abyss  where  they  may  not  crush 
even  one  of  the  least  of  the  creatures  of  his  care. 
It  is  grand  to  hear  them  and  feel  that  they  will  not 
come  nigh  us.  Our  path  is  now  so  far  from  the  base 
of  this  precipitous  mountain  that  if  those  snow  caps 
fall,  and  we  are  constantly  wishing  that  they  would, 
we  should  be  in  no  peril,  and  so  we  ride  on  with 
hearts  full  of  worship,  rejoicing  in  the  thoughts  of 
Him  who  built  these  high  places,  and  whose  praise  is 
uttered  in  the  silence  of  all  these  speechless  peaks, 
and  shouted  in  the  avalanche  in  tones  which  seem  to 
be  reverberated  all  around  the  world.  One  of  our 
own  poets,  with  a  soul  in  harmony  with  the  greatness 


152  SWITZERLAND. 

as  well  as  the  beauty  of  this  scenery,  exclaims  in  view 
of  these  towering  heights — 

Eternal  pyramids,  built  not  with  hands, 

From  linked  foundations  that  deep-hidden  lie, 
Ye  rise  apart,  and  each  a  wonder  stands  I 

Your  marble  peaks,  that  pierce  the  clouds  so  high, 

Seem  holding  up  the  curtain  of  the  sky. 
And  there,  sublime  and  solemn,  have  ye  stood 

"While  crumbling  Tune,  o'erawed,  passed  reverent  by — 
Since  Nature's  resurrection  from  the  flood, 
Since  earth,  new-born,  again. received  God's  plaudit,  "  Good  1" 
• 

Vast  as  mysterious,  beautiful  as  grand  I 

Forever  looking  into  Heaven's  clear  face, 
Types  of  sublimest  Faith,  unmoved  ye  stand, 

While  tortured  torrents  rave  along  your  base  : 

Silent  yourselves,  while,  loosed  from  its  high  place, 
Headlong  the  avalanche  loud  thundering  leaps  ! 

Like  a  foul  spirit,  maddened  by  disgrace, 
That  in  its  fall  the  souls  of  thousands  sweeps 
Into  perdition's  gulf,  down  ruin's  slippery  steeps. 

Dread  monuments  of  your  Creator's  power  ! 

When  Egypt's  pyramids  shall  mouldering  fall, 
In  undiminished  glory  ye  shall  tower, 

And  still  the  reverent  heart  to  worship  call, 

Yourselves  a  hymn  of  praise  perpetual.; 
And  if  at  last,  when  rent  is  Law's  great  chain, 

Ye  with  material  things  must  perish  all, 
Thoughts  which  ye  have  inspired,  not  born  in  vain, 
In  immaterial  minds  for  aye  shall  live  again. 

My  mind  was  full  of  such  thoughts  as  these,  so 
finely  clothed  in  Mrs.  Kinney's  words,  when  I  met  a 
party,  of  ladies  and  gentlemen,  and  one  of  the  ladies 


A   GLAOIEK   AND  AVALANCHE.  153 

was  borne  along  in  a  chair,  with  a  babe  in  her  arms ! 
Here  was  a  contrast,  and  a  suggestive  sight.  It  was 
certainly  the  pursuit  of  knowledge  under  difficulties, 
but  I  could  readily  understand  that  having  overcome 
every  obstacle  in  her  strong  desire  to  see  the  Alps, 
and  to  see  them  now,  she  was  enjoying  them  perhaps 
more  than  any  one  of  the  group  around  her.  And  I 
did  not  fail  to  admire  the  energy  of  soul  that  in  its 
love  of  nature,  and  its  thirsting  after  these  mighty 
manifestations  of  power  and  beauty,  was  equal  to  all 
the  difficulties  that  opposed  her  way.  Whether 
ladies  may  make  these  difficult  passes,  which  must  be 
made  to  see  the  inner  life  and  real  character  of  Swit- 
zerland, is  merely  a  question  of  dollars  and  cents. 
The  feeblest  may  be  borne  as  tenderly  as  this  infant 
was  on  its  mother's  breast,  and  the  most  delicate  will 
gather  health  and  strength  from  the  bracing  mountain 
air,  and  new  life  will  be  inspired  in  the  midst  of  these 
exciting  scenes.  To  see  Switzerland  on  wheels  is 
impracticable.  Its  brightest  glories  are  hid  away  in 
regions  of  perpetual  ice  and  snow,  where  no  traveller 
passes  except  to  see.  The  highways  of  trade  are  not 
here.  This  is  a  secret  place  of  the  Most  High,  where 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world,  he  has  wrapt  him- 
self in  storms  and  clouds,  and  thundered  among  the 
hills,  and  has  been  admired  only  by  those  who  have 

come  here  expressly  to  behold  his  works.     The  soli- 

7* 


154  SWITZERLAND. 

tude  of  such  scenery  adds  intensely  to  the  sense  of  the 
sublime.  Mountains  all  around  us  and  God  !  To  be 
alone  with  him  anywhere  is  to  be  near  him :  in  the 
midnight,  or  on  the  ocean  or  the  desert,  it  is  a  heart- 
luxury  to  feel  that  only  God  is  near ;  that  his  pre- 
sence fills  immensity,  and  his  Spirit  pervades  all 
matter  and  all  space.  But  to  stand  in  the  midst  of 
these  great  Alps,  hoary  patriarchs,  monuments  com- 
pared with  which  the  pyramids  are  children  of  a  day, 
is  to  stand  in  the  high  places  of  his  dominions  and  to 
be  raised  by  his  own  hand  into  audience  with  him  at 
whose  presence  these  mountains  shall  one  day  flow 
down  like  water  and  melt  away.  Heinrich,  my 
young  German  friend,  was  peopling  them  continually 
with  the  creatures  of  Grecian  mythology,  and  his 
classic  history  often  led  liim  to  speak  of  the  lofty 
seats  of  divinities  where  ancient  poets  had  planted 
the  council  halls  of  the  gods.  I  loved  to  believe  that 
God  had  made  these  hills  for  himself,  and  as  the  peo- 
ple who  dwell  among  them  have  no  heart  to  appre- 
ciate them,  pilgrims  from  all  lands  are  nocking  here, 
and  offering  the  incense  of  praise  at  the  foot  of  these 
high  altars.  How  they  do  lead  the  soul  along  upward 
toward  the  great  white  throne  !  How  like  that  throne 
is  yonder  peak  in  snowy  purity  shining  now  in  this 
bright  sun.  It  is  very  glorious,  and  no  human  foot- 
step ever  trod  the  summit.  God  sits  there  alone. 


A   GLACIEK  AND   AVALANCHE.  155 

Let  us  admire  and  adore.  He  is  fearful  in  praises, 
doing  wonders  !  Who  is  like  unto  him,  a  great  God, 
and  a  great  King  ! 

But  this  is  not  getting  on  with  the  journey.  You 
have  the  privilege  of  skipping  my  reflections  as  you 
read  ;  but  to  travel  without  reflection,  common  as  it 
is,  is  not  my  way — and  if  you  would  feel  the  sights 
that  meet  the  eye  in  this  world  of  wonders,  you  must 
indulge  me  in  pausing  now  and  then,  to  muse.  All 
this  time  we  have  been  going  steadily  up  the  Great 
Scheidek,  and  have  now  stopped  at  a  small  house, 
with  the  word  tavern  painted  on  it  in  two  or  three 
different  languages.  An  apology  for  a  dinner  we  got 
after  waiting  for  it  till  an  appetite  for  supper  came. 
The  view  from  this  height  into  the  Grindelwald  val- 
ley is  enchanting.  The  descent  is  so  steep  that  we 
were  willing  to  leave  the  mules  and  walk  down, 
holding  back  by  the  alpenstock,  and  resting  often  to 
enjoy  the  sight,  into,  the  valley  below.  And  now  we 
have  come  to  another  glacier,  in  the  midst  of  a  sunny 
elope,  stretching  down  into  the  bosom  of  verdant  pas- 
turage where  herds  are  grazing  and  flowers  are  blos- 
soming, and  women  and  children  are  laboring  under 
a  burning  sun.  It  is  hard  to  believe,  even  as  we 
stand  at  the  foot  of  it,  that  this  is  everlasting  ice  :  a 
segment  of  the  frozen  zone  let  fall  into  the  lap  of  sum- 
mer, and  sleeping  here  age  after  age,  perishing  con- 


156  SWITZERLAND. 

tinually,  but  renewed  day  by  day,  so  that  it  seems 
unchanged.  It  is  a  wonderful  growth  and  decay  ; 
and  the  greater  wonder  to  my  mind,  and  one  that 
does  not  diminish,  is  that  so  much  life  and  beauty  can 
exist  and  flourish  in  the  midst  of  this  eternal  cold. — 
Yet  there  is  a  greater  contrast  even  here.  We  are 
coming  into  the  valley,  and  there  another,  called  the 
Upper  Glacier  lies,  and  yet  that  is  not  to  furnish  the 
contrast  of  which  I  speak.  It  is  in  the  wide  and 
wonderful  difference  between  this  people  and  their 
country  !  Degenerate,  ignorant,  begging  and  demor- 
alized, this  people  seem,  and  indeed  are,  unworthy  of 
such  a  land  as  this.  They  have  a  history,  but  Swit- 
zerland was,  and  is  not.  The  race  has  run  down. — 
Disease  and  hardships  have  reduced  the  stock,  till 
now  we  rarely  meet  a  fine-looking  man,  never  a  fine- 
looking  woman,  as  we  cross  the  mountains  and  trav- 
erse the  valleys  of  this  noble  country. 

The  vale  of  Grindenwald,  into  .which  we  have  now 
descended,  is  one  of  the  most  fertile,  picturesque,  and 
quiet  in  Switzerland.  It  is  a  place  to  stay  in.  The 
hotels,  of  which  there  are  two,  are  crowded  to  over- 
flowing. We  sent  our  guide  ahead  to  get  room  for 
for  us,  but  he  failed.  There  was  no  room  for  us  at 
the  inn.  We  paused  first  at  the  Eagle,  a  very  good- 
looking  establishment,  and  the  balcony  running  across 
the  front  of  it  was  filled  with  good-looking  people — 


A   GLACIEK   AND   AVALANCHE.  157 

but  there  were  as  many  there  as  the  house  would 
hold,  and  we  had  to  go  on  to  the  Sear.  And  the 
Bear  would  not  let  us  in.  The  very  best  the  landlord 
could  do,  was  to  give  us  a  room  with  three  beds  in  it, 
in  a  cottage  across  the  way,  where  we  would  be  quiet 
and  comfortable.  We  went  over.  Up  stairs,  by  as 
dark,  narrow,  dirty,  ricketty,  dangerous  and  disagree- 
able a  passage  as  I  had  made  among  the  mountains, 
we  were  led  by  a  tall,  skinny,  slatternly  woman,  with 
a  tallow  candle  in  her  fingers,  and  shown  into  onr 
treble  chamber.  For  the  first  time  we  were  in  such 
a  house  as  the  better  class  of  peasants  occupy  in 
Switzerland.  It  had  been  taken  by  the  proprietor  of 
the  hotel,  as  a  sort  of  makeshift  when  his  hotel  was 
overflowing — the  lower  part  of  it  was  his  bake  and 
wash  house,  and  this  room  was  reserved  for  lodgings. 
I  was  worn  out  with  the  journey  of  the  day,  and  glad 
enough  to  stretch  myself  on  any  thing  that  ventured 
to  call  itself  a  bed.  The  walls  of  the  chamber  around 
and  above  were  rude  boards,  and  the  bare  floor  had 
been  trodden  a  hundred  years  without  feeling.  The 
furniture  was  a  mixture  of  the  broken  chairs  of  the 
hotel  and  the  superannuated  relics  of  the  cottage,  an 
amusing  study,  which  helped  to  pass  away  half  an 
hour,  while  our  prison  keeper,  the  ugly  old  woman, 
was  scaring  up  something  for  us  to  eat.  Bread  and 
milk,  with  some  cheese  so  strong  that  we  begged  her 


158  SWITZERLAND. 

to  take  it  off,  made  a  frugal  repast,  but  sweet  to  a 
hungry  man  :  this  mountaineering  does  give  a  man 
an  appetite—  and  then  he  sleeps  so  well  after  eating. 
Alas  !  my  dreams  were  short ;  a  band  of  bloodthirsty 
villains  attacked  me  in  the  dead  of  night,  and  for  four 
hours  I  fought  them  tooth  and  nail.  The  battle  made 
real  the  poet's  description  of  another  scene — 

"  Though  hundreds,  thousands  bleed, 
Still  hundreds,  thousands,  more  succeed." 

How  many  of  the  foe  found  that  night  a  bed  of  death 
in  my  bed,  I  cannot  say,  as  we  took  no  account  of  the 
slain,  but  the  conflict  was  sanguinary  and  the 
destruction  of  life  was  immense.  The  sun  rose  upon 
the  battle  field,  but  it  was  hard  to  say  which  was  the 
victor.  Exhausted  quite  as  much  by  the  night's  exer- 
tions as  the  travels  of  the  previous  day,  I  rose  to 
address  myself  to  the  journey.  The  rapacious  land- 
lord of  the  Bear  charged  us  the  same  price  for  our 
lodgings  that  was  paid  by  those  who  had  the  best 
rooms  in  his  house,  and  I  told  him  we  were  willing 
to  pay  him  for  the  privilege  of  hunting  in  his 
grounds,  which  we  had  greatly  enjoyed  for  several 
hours.  He  was  too  slow  to  take  my  meaning,  but 
when  he  did,  he  had  no  idea  there  was  any  harm  in 
a  few  fleas.  All  these  mountain  sides  are  covered 
with  the  huts  of  the  shepherds,  where  during  a  part 
of  the  year  a  man  remains  to  tend  the  flocks,  and  he 


A   GLACIER   AND   AVALANCHE.  159 

takes  with  him  some  coarse  food  to  last  him  during 
the  months  of  his  stay.  The  shepherds  and  their 
families  live  in  the  midst  of  their  dogs  and  cattle,  and 
fleas  are  no  worse  to  them  than  they  are  to  us.  It 
only  served  to  amuse  the  landlord  of  the  JSear,  when 
we  related  to  him  the  sufferings  of  the  night,  and 
besought  him  never  to  expose  travellers  to  such 
annoyances  again. 

The  ascent  of  the  Faulhorn  is  made  from  Grindel- 
wald.  It  is  a  mountain  eight  thousand  feet  high,  and 
the  view  from  the  summit  is  said  to  be  an  ample 
reward  for  the  five  hours'  walk  or  ride  which  is 
necessary  to  gain  it.  The  long  and  glorious  range  of 
the  Bernese  Alps  stands  majestically  in  sight,  and 
there  are  not  wanting  those  who  declare  the  prospect 
superior  to  that  which  is  had  on  the  Rigi.  I  took  it 
on  trust,  and  having  loftier  summits  still  before  me, 
was  willing  to  leave  the  Faulhorn.  And  I  was 
willing  to  leave  Grindelwald  too — glad  to  escape  the 
scene  of  my  midnight  sufferings,  but  I  doubt  not  that 
at  the  Eagle  (and  not  at  the  Bear)  we  might  have 
spent  a  day  or  two  very  pleasantly  in  this  charming 
vale.  And  how  soon  are  these  little  vexations  of  life 
forgotten.  They  are  worth  mentioning  only  to 
remind  us  how  foolish  it  is  to  be  vexed  at  trifles, 
which  in  a  single  day  are  with  the  things  that  hap- 
pened a  hundred  years  ago.  Thus  moralizing  and 


160  SWITZERLAND. 

half  sorry  that  I  had  made  any  complaint  of  my 
quarters  for  the  night,  I  mounted  my  horse  and  set 
off  to  cross 

The  Wengern  Alp. 

The  ride  through  the  vale  in  the  early  morning 
was  refreshing.  Parties  of  travellers  were  emerging 
from  cottages  where  they  had  found  beds,  and  wind- 
ing their  way  by  the  bridle  paths,  in  various  direc- 
tions, on  foot  and  on  horseback,  all  seeking  to  see  the 
world  of  Switzerland,  and  all  enjoying  themselves 
with  the  various  degrees  of  ability  which  had  been 
given  them.  We  crossed  the  lesser  Sheideck^  and 
stopped  on  the  ridge  of  it  at  a  small  house  of 
refreshment  to  eat  Alpine  strawberries  and  milk. 
The  berries  are  small  and  have  very  little  of  the 
strawberry  taste,  but  are  quite  a  treat  in  their  way. 
They  were  apparently  more  abundant  here  than  we 
had  seen  them  elsewhere,  and  with  plenty  of  milk 
they  made  a  capital  lunch.  Well  for  us  that  we  had 
the  milk  before  a  dirty  boy  who  was  playing  at  the 
door  when  we  came  up,  plunged  his  mouth  and  nose 
into  the  railkpan  and  took  a  long  drink,  only  with- 
drawing when  his  father  wished  to  dip  some  out  for  a 
lady  who  had  just  arrived.  Had  she  seen  the  opera- 
tion, she  would  have  declined  the  draught,  but  where 
"  Ignorance  is  bliss  'tis  folly  to  be  wise." 


A   GLACIEE    AND   AVALANCHE.  161 

"We  rested  a  few  moments  only  at  this  chalet,  and 
then  pushed  on,  passing  a  forest,  or  the  ruins  of  a 
forest,  which  the  avalanches  had  mown  down  as 
grass.  The  stumps,  and  here  and  there  a  scraggy 
tree  were  the  witnesses  of  the  desolation  that  had 
been  wrought.  From  the  height  we  are  crossing  we 
have  one  of  the  most  magnificent  of  Alpine  views. 
The  JUNGFRAU  stands  before  us  clad  in  white  raiment, 
beautiful  as  a  bride  adorned  for  her  husband  :  in  the 
sunlight  she  is  dazzling  and  seems  so  near  to  heaven, 
and  so  pure  in  her  vestal  robes,  that  we  are  willing 
to  believe  the  gateway  must  be  there.  The  name  of 
this  mountain  Jungfrau,  or  the  Virgin,  is  given, 
on  account  of  the  peculiar  beauty  and  purity  of  the 
peak  which  until  1812  had  never  been  sullied  by  the 
foot  of  man.  Rising  like  a  pyramid  above  the  sur- 
rounding heights  thirteen  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  forty-eight  feet,  and  seeming  to  be  as  smooth  as 
if  cut  with  a  chisel  out  of  solid  marble,  she  stands 
there  sublimely  beautiful,  to  be  gazed  at  and 
admired.  Lord  Byron  has  made  this  region  the 
scene  of  some  of  his  most  terrible  passages,  and  I 
was  forcibly  impressed  as  I  read  them  with  the 
contrast,  not  the  similarity,  between  his  emotions  and 
my  own  in  the  midst  of  these  mountains.  Here  he 
conceived  some  of  those  images  never  read  in  his 
Manfred  without  a  shudder.  In  his  Journal  he  says 


162  SWITZERLAND. 

"  the  clouds  rose  from  the  opposite  valley,  curling  up 
perpendicular  precipices  like  the  foam  of  the  ocean 
of  hell  during  a  spring-tide — it  was  white  and 
sulphury,  and  immeasurably  deep  in  appearance." 
Then  in  Manfred  he  does  it  into  verse  : 

"  The  mists  boil  up  around  the  glaciers  :  clouds 
Rise  curling  fast  beneath  me  white  and  sulphury, 
Like  foam  from  the  roused  ocean  of  deep  hell 
Whose  every  wave  breaks  on  a  living  shore, 
Heap'd  with  the  damn'd  like  pebbles." 

None  but  a  mind  surcharged  with  horrors,  a  mind 
which  all  bad  things  inhabit,  could  find  such  images 
to  convey  its  emotions  in  view  of  these  sights  of 
grandeur,  beauty,  and  glory.  The  mists  were  curl- 
ing along  up  the  precipices  as  I  have  seen  incense  in 
a  great  cathedral,  mounting  the  lofty  columns,  and 
curling  among  the  arches,  a  symbol  of  the  praise 
that  goes  up  from  the  hearts  of  worshippers  to  the 
God  of  heaven.  These  white  clouds,  not  "  sulphury  " 
— so  far  from  being  suggestive  of  hell-waves,  were 
heavenly  robes  rather,  and  as  the  sun  now  nearly  at 
noon,  was  filling  them  with  light,  I  loved  to  watch 
them,  and  then  look  away  up  to  the  summit  of  the 
mountains  around  me,  rejoicing  in  the  manifestations 
which  the  King  of  kings  was  making  of  himself  in 
this  dwelling  among  the  munitions  of  rocks.  "With 
these  thoughts  full  on  me  as  I  rode  along  the  verge 


A   GLACIER   AND   AVALANCHE.  163 

of  the  tremendous  ravine  that  separates  the  "Wengern 
Alp  from  the  Jungfrau,  we  reached  a  small  inn,  on 
the  brow  of  the  ravine,  where  large  parties,  chiefly 
English  people,  were  ravening  for  dinner.  This 
house  has  been  planted  here  in  the  Jungfrau,  that 
travellers  may  rest  themselves  in  its  beauty,  and 
watch  for  the  avalanches  that  now  and  then  come 
thundering  down  its  precipitous  sides.  Streams  of 
water  are  in  some  places  pouring  down.  The  music 
of  the  fall  is  constantly  heard,  and  every  five  or  ten 
minutes  the  roar  of  a  snow-slide  thunders  on  the  ear. 
Few  of  them  are  seen.  They  break  away  from  crags 
that  are  out  of  sight,  and  plunge  into  dark  abysses 
where  the  eye  of  man  does  not  follow  them.  But  this 
is  just  the  time  of  day  when  we  might  look  for  one, 
for  it  is  past  noon  when  the  sun's  power  is  the  great- 
est, and  if  the  great  toppling  mass  which  seems  to  l>e 
ho1  ding  on  with  difficulty  would  but  let  go  its  cold 
death  grasp  and  come  headlong  into  this  mighty 
grave  at  the  base  of  the  mountain,  it  would  be  a  sight 
worth  coming  to  Switzerland  to  see. 

We  watched  and  wished,  and  the  more  we  watch- 
ed, the  more  it  would  not  come.  During  the  half 
hour  we  had  sat  wrapped  up  in  our  blankets,  gazing 
at  the  cold  snow  hills,  and  shivering  in  the  bleak 
winds,  the  dinner  had  been  in  preparation,  and  des- 
pairing of  getting  something  to  see,  we  determined 


164:  SWITZERLAND. 

like  sensible  people,  to  have  something  to  eat.  The 
long  table  was  tilled  with  hungry  travellers,  and  all 
had  forgotten  in  the  enjoyment  of  dinner  the  wonders 
of  the  Alps,  when  suddenly  the  alarm  was  given, 
"  Laweenen"  the  "  Avalanche"  Servants  dropped 
the  dishes  and  ran,  gentlemen  and  ladies  following 
them  rushed  from  the  table,  over  chairs  and  each 
other,  crowding  for  the  doors  and  windows  :  and  had 
there  been  danger  of  a  sudden  overwhelming  of  the 
house,  and  the  destruction  of  all  the  inhabitants,  we 
could  not  have  fled  in  greater  haste  and  confusion 
than  we  now  did,  to  see  the  descending  "  thunderbolt 
of  snow."  All  eyes  were  upon  one  point  where  a 
stream  like  powdered  marble  was  pouring  from  one 
of  the  gullies  far  up  the  Jungfrau  and  lodging  on  a 
ledge.  It  differed  in  no  respect  from  a  stream  of 
snow,  nor  indeed  from  one  of  water  which  is  perfectly 
•white  in  the  distance  when  a  small  cascade  is  dang- 
ling from  the  rocks.  Yet  we  are  told,  and  there  is 
no  reason  to  doubt  that  this  stream  is  made  up  of 
vast  blocks  of  ice  and  masses  of  snow,  dashed  con- 
stantly into  smaller  fragments  as  it  comes  "  rushing 
amain  down,"  but  still  weighing  each  of  them  many 
tons,  and  capable  of  dealing  destruction  to  forests  and 
villages  if  they  stood  in  its  path.  We  looked  on  in 
silence,  and  with  disappointment  mingled  with  awe. 
The  stream  that  had  rested  for  a  while  on  one  ledge 


A   GLACIEK   AND    AVALANCHE.  165 

now  began  to  flow  again,  and  the  roar  of  the  torrent 
increased  every  instant,  filling  the  air  with  its  rever- 
berations, which  were  caught  by  distant  mountains 
and  sent  back  in  sharp  echoes,  and  again  in  deep 
toned  voices  that  seemed  to  shake  the  sky.  But  I 
was  disappointed.  It  was  just  what  I  did  not  expect, 
although  I  had  read  enough  of  them  to  be  prepared 
for  what  was  to  come.  This  was  said  to  be  one  of  the 
grandest  scenes  this  season  !  Of  course  we  believed 
it,  and  report  it  accordingly.  Grand  indeed  it  was, 
and  when  we  consider  that  at  least  four  miles  are 
between  us  and  the  hill  side  down  which  it  is  rush- 
ing, it  is  not  surprising  that  the  masses  of  ice  should 
be  blended  into  a  steady  and  liquid  stream.  Cer- 
tainly I  prefer  to  see  such  a  torrent  at  a  distance,  to 
being  sufficiently  near  it  to  run  any  risk  of  being 
buried  alive  in  an  icy  grave. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

INTERLACHEN      AND      BEKNE. 

The  Staubach  Fall — Lauterbrunnen — Interlachen— Cretins  and  Goitre — Dr. 
Guggenbuhl— Giesbach  Fall— Berne— Inquisitive  Lady— Swiss  Creed- 
Crossing  the  Gernmi— Leuchenbad  Baths. 

HE  Staubach  Fall,  nearly  a  thou- 
sand feet  high,  is  far  from  being 
such  a  thing  of  beauty  as  I  had 
hoped  to  find  it.  It  comes  from 
such  a  height  and  has  so  small  a 
body  of  water,  that  it  dissolves  into 
spray,  and  falling  upon  the  rocks 
gathers  itself  up  again  and  leaps 
down  into  the  valley.  Byron  com- 
pares it  to  the  tail  of  the  white  horse  in  the  Apoca- 
lypse. "Wordsworth  speaks  of  it  as  a  "  heaven-born 
waterfall,"  and  Murray  likens  it  to  a  "  beautiful  lace 
veil  suspended  from  a  precipice."  It  is  just  at  the 
(166) 


TNIERLACHEN   AND   BERNE.  167 

entrance  of  the  village  of  Lauterbrunnen,  which 
lies  in  a  valley  literally  gloomy  and  sublime.  The 
sides  of  the  mountains  that  shut  it  in  are  precipitous 
and  so  lofty  that  in  winter  the  sun  does  not  climb  the 
eastern  side  till  noon,  and  so  cold  is  it  through 
the  summer,  that  only  the  hardiest  fruits  can  be 
raised.  I  counted  between  twenty  and  thirty  cas- 
cades leaping  over  the  brow  of  these  mountains  and 
plunging  into  the  valley.  In  the  calm  of  the  even- 
ing, after  the  sun  had  ceased  to  shine  in  it,  I  rode 
from  the  village  to  Interlachen,  and  thought  it  the 
most  mournfully  pleasing  ride  in  Switzerland,  Others 
whom  I  met,  and  who  passed  me  on  the  way,  ap- 
peared to  regard  it  as  purely  delightful,  and  perhaps 
few  would  find  in  it  as  I  did,  the  materials  of  melan- 
choly musings. 

But  all  these  feelings  soon  gave  way  to  those  of 
calm  enjoyment,  when  a  weary  pilgrimage  of  a  week 
was  brought  to  a  close  in  the  beautiful  village  of 
INTERLACHEN. 

We  were  at  the  hotel  des  Alpes ;  the  largest  and 
best  boarding  establishment  in  the  village,  where,  for 
a  dollar  a  day  the  traveller  finds  every  comfort  that  a 
first  class  hotel  affords.  It  was  a  very  bright  day, 
and  the  sun  had  been  shining  with  a  ravishing  clear- 
ness on  the  snow-white  breast  of  the  Jungfrau.  At 
the  dinner-table,  one  of  a  party  of  ladies  inquired  the 


168  SWITZERLAJSTD. 

meaning  of  Jungfrau,  and  being  told  that  it  was  Ger- 
man for  a  young  unmarried  lady,  I  ventured  to  say 
that  it  could  not  be  called  the  Jungfrau.  to-morrow. 
"  And  why  not,  pray,"  was  instantly  demanded. 
"  Because,"  said  I,  "  she  is  certainly  clad  in  her 
bridal  robes  to-day." 

Beyond  all  doubt,  it  is  the  most  beautiful  single 
mountain  in  Switzerland.  It  is  a  calm,  sweet  plea- 
sure to  sit  and  look  at  her,  as  a  bride  adorned  for  her 
husband :  white  exceedingly ;  pure  as  the  sun  and 
snow;  bright  as  the  light,  and  glorious  "  as  the  gate 
of  heaven."  Sometimes  its  lofty  summit  seems  to  be 
touching  the  vault  of  heaven,  and  I  could  easily 
imagine  that  angels  were  on  it,  and  not  far  from 
home.  The  wide  plain  in  the  midst  of  which  the  vil- 
lage is  planted  is  the  theatre  of  those  yearly  contests 
of  strength  and  skill  in  which  the  inhabitants  of  all 
the  surrounding  hills  and  valleys  engage.  On  the 
overhanging  heights  on  your  right  hand  as  we  go  to 
Lauterbrunnen  is  the  Castle  of  Unspunnen,  to  which 
a  legend  attaches  that  I  have  not  time  to  tell.  Byron 
is  said  to  have  had  this  scene  before  him  when  he 
made  his  Manfred.  Instead  of  telling  you  the  doubt- 
ful story  of  this  old  castle,  I  would  rather  give  you 
some  account  of  a  modern  and  more  humble  house  on 
the  hill. 

It  is  in  sight  from  the  plain  :  not  an  imposing  struc- 


INTEBLACHEN   AND   BERNE.  169 

ture,  but  so  far  above  the  vale,  that  you  are  tempted 
to  inquire  what  it  is,  and  with  a  real  pleasure  you 
are  told  it  is  Dr.  Guggenbuhl's  Asylum  for  Cretins. 
For  weeks  we  have  been  pained  almost  daily  with 
the  sight  of  these  miserable  objects.  More  distress- 
ing to  the  eye  is  the  victim  of  the  goitre,  which  is  a 
swelling  on  the  neck,  gradually  enlarging  with  the 
growth  of  the  unfortunate  subject,  till  it  hangs  down 
on  the  breast,  and  sometimes  becomes  so  heavy  that 
the  miserable  individual  is  compelled  to  crawl  on  the 
ground.  What  a  strange  ordering  of  Providence  it  is, 
that  these  beautiful  valleys  should  be  infected  with 
such  a  disgusting  disease.  In  the  higher  regions  it  is 
not  known,  but  in  low,  damp  valleys  where  much 
water  remains  stagnant,  it  abounds.  And  so  de- 
graded are  many  of  the  inhabitants,  that  some  fami- 
lies regard  it  a  blessing  to  have  a  case  of  goitre,  as  it 
gives  them  a  claim  on  the  charity  of  others. 

"  Cretinism,  which  occurs  in  the  same  localities 
as  goitre,  and  evidently  arises  from  the  same  cause, 
whatever  it  may  be,  is  a  more  serious  malady,  inas- 
much as  it  affects  the  mind.  The  cretin  is  an  idiot 
—  a  melancholy  spectacle  — •  a  creature  who  may 
almost  be  said  to  rank  a  step  below  a  human  being. 
There  is  a  vacancy  in  his  countenance ;  his  head  is 
disproportionately  large ;  his  limbs  are  stunted  or 
crippled ;  he  cannot  articulate  his  words  with  dis- 

8 


170  SWITZERLAND. 

tinctness  ;  and  there  is  scarcely  any  work  which  he  is 
capable  of  executing.  He  spends  his  days  basking 
in  the  sun,  and,  from  its  warmth,  appears  to  derive 
great  gratification.  When  a  stranger  appears,  he 
becomes  a  clamorous  and  importunate  beggar,  as- 
sailing him  with  a  ceaseless  chattering ;  and  the 
traveller  is  commonly  glad  to  be  rid  of  his  hideous 
presence  at  the  expense  of  a  batz.  At  times  the  dis- 
ease has  such  an  effect  on  the  mind,  that  the  sufferer 
is  unable  to  find  his  way  home  when  within  a  few 
feet  of  his  own  door." 

A  young  Swiss  physician  in  Zurich,  rapidly  gain- 
ing fame  and  fortune  in  his  profession,  one  day  saw  a 
little  cretin  near  a  fountain  of  water.  His  heart  was 
touched  with  a  sudden  sympathy,  not  for  the  single 
unfortunate  before  him  only,  but  for  the  thousands 
whom  he  knew  to  be  scattered  over  his  magnificent 
country.  His  noble  heart  was  moved  as  he  made 
an  estimate  of  the  numbers  of  his  fellow  beings  in 
this  helpless  and  now  hopeless  condition.  In  a  single 
valley  where  some  ten  or  fifteen  thousand  people  live, 
not  less  than  three  thousand  cretins  are  found.  He 
could  not  redeem  them  all,  but  could  he  not  do 
something  for  a  few  of  them — put  a  new  soul  into 
these  bodies — snatch  them  from  the  lower  order  of 
creation,  from  a  lower  level  than  the  dog  or  the 
horse,  and  raise  them  to  the  scale  of  man  ?  It  was  a 


INTEKLACHEN   AND   BERNE.  171 

noble  impulse  ;  it  was  the  beginning  of  a  noble  work. 
In  the  virtuous  heroism  of  the  hour,  he  resolved  to 
give  his  life  to  the  cause.  Such  a  man  could  not  have 
lived  even  a  few  years  in  a  community  without  gam- 
ing the  affections  of  all  the  good,  and  when  it  became 
known  that  the  young  physician  would  leave  Zurich 
to  study  abroad  the  subject  to  which  he  had  conse- 
crated his  powers,  the  poor  people  flocked  about  him, 
and  held  his  knees  beseeching  him  not  to  forsake 
them.  But  his  resolution  was  taken. 

His  observation  and  study  taught  him  that  in  the 
more  elevated  regions  of  the  country,  he  would  find 
the  only  place  to  locate  a  hospital,  with  any  hope  of 
making  improvement  in  the  miserable  cases  on 
whom  he  might  make  his  experiments.  Coming  to 
this  lovely  vale  of  Interlachen,  and  selecting  a  lofty 
and  most  commanding  site,  away  above  the  old  cas- 
tle of  Unspunnen,  with  all  the  property  that  he  pos- 
sessed, and  what  he  could  obtain  from  the  charity  of 
those  who  were  willing  to  aid  him  in  his  doubtful 
but  philanthropic  enterprise,  he  purchased  a  tract  of 
mountain  land,  and  built  a  house  of  refuge,  a  hospi- 
tal for  idiots. 

I  rode  a  donkey  up  the  hill,  and  with  my  German 
friend  Heinrich  on  one  side  of  me,  and  my  American 
friend  Rankin  on  the  other,  we  had  a  delightful  ex- 
cursion through  the  forest ;  often  emerging  upon  the 


172  SWITZERLAND. 

side  of  the  hill  from  which  we  could  look  off  on  one 
of  the  loveliest  scenes,  then  winding  our  way  by  a 
most  circuitous  and  sometimes  a  very  steep  path,  we 
at  last  overcame  the  four  miles  of  travel,  and  found 
ourselves  at  the  door  of  the  Asylum.  At  our  call  a 
young  woman,  evidently  not  a  servant,  came  to  the 
door  and  showed  us  into  a  plainly  furnished  sitting 
room,  while  she  retired  to  announce  to  the  Superin- 
tendent that  strangers  would  be  pleased  to  view  his 
establishment.  She  returned  with  the  register  of  vis- 
iters  in  which  we  were  desired  to  write  our  names 
and  address.  She  then  carried  the  book  to  the  Doc- 
tor, who  soon  appeared,  gave  us  a  cordial  greeting, 
and  invited  us  to  walk  with  him  through  the  house. 
While  we  had  been  sitting  there,  an  uproar  was  going 
on  overhead,  as  if  the  floor  was  to  be  broken  through. 
Dr.  Guggenbuhl  led  us  directly  to  the  room  where  the 
riot  was  in  progress.  It  was  hushed  as  we  entered. 
But  the  cause  was  apparent.  We  were  in  the  school- 
room, and  teachers  and  pupils  were  amusing  them- 
selves in  the  recess  with  all  sorts  of  diverting  and 
boisterous  plays.  Here  were  thirty-seven  idiots,  of 
various  ages  from  three  to  thirty,  in  the  way  of  being 
trained  to  the  first  exercise  of  intelligent  humanity, 
the  art  of  thinking.  The  teachers  are  young  women, 
the  daughters  of  Swiss  Protestant  past6rs  chiefly,  de- 
voting themselves  without  fee  or  reward,  like  the  Sis- 


INTEKLACHEN   AND   BEENE.  173 

ters  of  Charity,  to  this 'painfully  disagreeable  task. 
Around  the  room  are  hung  large  pictures  of  beasts 
and  birds,  which  are  designed  to  catch  the  attention 
of  the  cretins,  and  to  induce  them  to  make  inquiries. 
The  first  indication  of  a  desire  to  know  any  thing  is 
seized  upon  with  avidity  and  stimulated  by  every 
encouragement.  While  we  were  standing  there,  sev- 
eral came  in  with  one  of  the  teachers  from  a  ramble 
in  the  woods.  They  had  been  for  some  years  in  train- 
ing, and  were  now  awake  to  the  world  around  them. 
They  brought  in  beautiful  wild  flowers  which  they  had 
gathered,  and  were  delighted  to  show  to  us,  describing 
their  varieties,  and  exhibiting  a  familiarity  with  the 
study  that  I  did  not  dream  of  its  being  possible  for 
them  to  acquire.  Feeble  as  were  the  exercises  of 
these  poor  things,  it  was  a  joy  to  know  that  they  can 
be  taught,  and  Dr.  G.  assured  me  that  he  has  had  the 
pleasure  and  reward  of  seeing  some  of  them  so  far 
restored  to  sense,  that  they  may  be  expected  to  pro- 
vide for  themselves,  and  have  some  of  the  enjoyments 
of  rational  beings.  He  is  obliged  to  use  his  own 
discretion  in  the  admission  of  puplis :  his  house  will 
contain  but  his  present  number,  and  hundreds  must 
be  denied  his  care,  to  whom  he  would  gladly  extend 
it,  if  the  rich  would  give  him  the  means.  He  devotes 
all  his  own  property  to  their  relief,  and  expects  to 
give  his  life  to  this  self-denying  work.  In  reply  to  my 


174  SWITZERLAND. 

inquiries  if  his  labors  were  acknowledged  by  medical 
men  abroad,  he  referred  me  to  a  score  of  diplomas  that 
had  been  sent  to  him  from  all  the  leading  Societies 
on  the  Continent  of  Europe  and  in  England,  but  I  saw 
none  from  America.  Does  not  my  country  know,  and 
does  it  not  delight  to  honor  a  man  whose  philanthropy 
and  genius  are  alike  deserving  the  admiration  of  the 
world  ? 

Among  the  poor  idiots  in  this  institution  is  one,  the 
son  of  an  English  Lord,  sent  far  away  from  his  native 
land,  in  the  hope,  faint  indeed,  that  the  wonderful  skill 
of  this  heroic  man  may  open  the  eyes  of  this  child's 
understanding.  "What  indeed  is  wealth,  and  title,  and 
power,  to  a  fool  ?  And  O  how  happy  they,  who  have 
joyous,  bright  and  knowing  little  ones,  though  only 
bread  and  milk  to  eat,  and  little  of  that. 

The  good  doctor  followed  us  to  the  brow  of  the  hill, 
and  with  us  admired  the  lovely  landscape  away  below, 
the  richly  tilled  plain — the  white  cottages  scattered 
over  it,  and  in  its  midst  the  beautiful  village — wide 
sheets  of  water  around  which  the  mountains  stand 
and  look  down,  solemn  and  grand,  in  their  everlasting 
silence  and  gray  heads :  and  then  we  pressed  his 
hands  long  and  earnestly,  asking  God  to  bless  him,  a 
noble  specimen  of  a  Christian  physician. 

While  at  Interlachen  we  made  excursions  to  the 
Geisbach  Falls,  which  have  the  preference  in  my 


INTERLACHEN    AND   BEENE.  175 

view  decidedly  before  all  others  in  Switzerland.  We 
also  made  a  trip  to  Berne,  and  passed  a  few  days  at 
the  Couronne  Hotel,  one  of  the  best  in  the  land. — • 
Every  body  has  read  of  the  Bears  of  Berne,  and  there 
are  many  lions  there  to  see,  in  the  Museum  and  out. 
The  view  of  the  Bernese  Alps  is  worth  the  journey 
to  Switzerland.  I  saw  them  at  sunset,  in  glory  unri- 
valled and  indescribable. 

Returning  from  Berne  in  the  diligence,  an  elderly 
English  lady  sitting  in  front  of  me,  and  hearing  me 
converse  with  my  friends,  presumed  I  must  be  a  coun- 
tryman of  her  own,  and  opened  a  catechism  as  fol- 
lows— 

Lady. — "  How  long  since  you  left  England,  Sir?" 

/. — About  two  months,  Madam." 

Lady. — "  When  do  you  return,  Sir  ?" 

I. — I  hope  in  the  Spring,  Madam. 

Lady. — "  Where  do  you  spend  the  winter?" 

/. — In  Syria. 

Lady. — "  Good  Lord,  what  a  traveller  you  are  !" 

She  took  a  pinch  of  snuff,  and  I  resumed  my  notes 
and  remarks  with  my  companion.  She  listened,  and 
grew  impatient  to  get  hold  of  something  by  which  to 
learn  who  we  were.  She  at  last  ventured  to  come  to- 
ward the  point  by  asking, 

"  In  what  part  of  England  do  you  reside,  Sir  ?" 

I  arn  not  an  Englishman,  Madam. 


176  SWITZERLAND. 

Lady. — "  Bless  me,  and  of  what  country  are  you, 
pray?" 

I  am  an  American. 

Lady. — O  you  are,  are  you  ?  Well,  I  would  not 
have  thought  it.  Would  it  be  an  indiscretion  for  me 
to  ask  you  what  is  your  name,  Sir  ?" 

I  gave  her  my  name  of  course,  but  she  was  not  sat- 
isfied. "  Will  you,"  said  she,  "  have  the  goodness  to 
give  me  your  name  in  writing  ?" 

I  handed  her  my  card,  for  which  she  thanked  me, 
and  then  added,  "  I  know  that  you  are  making  notes, 
and  will  write  a  book,  and  I  shall  hear  of  you,  &c.," 
and  so  she  chatted  on,  amusing  me  not  a  little  with 
her  loquacity. 

We  returned  to  Interlachen,  and  here  a  German 
lady  who  was  travelling  with  her  family,  begged  me 
to  allow  her  son,  a  student  of  Heidelberg,  to  join  my 
party,  to  make  an  excursion  of  a  few  days,  and  meet 
her  at  Geneva.  To  this  I  assented,  as  it  would  in- 
crease our  number  to  four,  and  be  quite  agreeable. 
With  this  escort  of  young  men,  two  Germans  and  one 
American,  I  set  off  at  daylight  in  the  morning,  to 
make  the  Gemmi  Pass.  Along  the  shores  of  Lake 
Thun  and  by  the  castles  of  Wimmis  and  of  Spietz, 
we  entered  the  beautiful  vale  of  Frutigen,  where  the 
shepherds  and  flocks,  with  their  crooks  and  their  dogs, 
guve  us  a  sweet  picture  of  pastoral  life.  At  a  little 


INTEKLACHEN   AND   BEKNE.  177 

tavern  at  which  we  halted  for  lunch,  I  found  the  fol- 
i  lowing  CREED,  framed   and  hung  up  in  the  dining- 
room.     It  was  in  French. 

"  I  believe  in  the  Swiss  country,  the  brave  mother 
of  brave  men,  and  in  Freedom  only  begotten  daugh- 
ter of  Helvetia,  conceived  in  Grutli,  by  the  patriot  in 
1308  who  suffered  under  the  aristocrats  and  priests, 
was  crucified  for  many  centuries,  died  and  was  buried 
in  1814 ;  after  sixteen  years  was  again  raised  from 
the  dead,  came  back  into  the  bosom  of  true  patriots, 
from  hence  she  shall  come  to  judge  all  the  wicked.  I 
believe  in  the  human  spirit  which  was  delivered  from 
ignorance  by  knowledge  and  raised  by  Education.  I 
believe  in  a  holy  general  brotherhood  of  the  oppressed 
in  Spain,  Portugal,  Poland  and  Italy,  the  communion 
of  all  patriots,  the  destruction  of  all  tariffs,  and  the 
life  everlasting  of  republics,  Amen." 

This  is  scarcely  better  than  blasphemy ;  and  it  is 
probably  one  of  the  formulas  of  faith  on  which  the 
Continental  conspiracies  are  formed.  On  and  up,  the 
road  led  us  to  some  beautiful  falls  of  water,  and  be- 
tween perpendicular  masses  of  rock  that  stood  as  if 
split  asunder  to  give  us  a  passage  through.  We 
reached  Kanderstey  in  the  middle  of  the  day,  and 
met  parties  returning  from  the  Gemmi,  who  advised 
us  against  going  on,  as  there  was  every  prospect  of  a 

8* 


178  SWITZERLAND. 

coming  storm.  We  were  determined  however  to 
press  forward.  I  got  a  mule  and  a  guide,  and  the 
young  men  were  ready  to  walk.  We  set  off  in  good 
spirits,  but  as  soon  as  we  struck  into  the  defile  which 
led  up  the  hill,  the  mists  began  to  thicken  around  us, 
and  it  was  impossible  to  call  it  any  thing  but  rain. 
Three  hours  of  steady  climbing  brought  us  to  the 
wretched  inn  of  Schwarenbach,  which  Werner  makes 
the  scene  of  a  fearful  tale  of  blood.  We  were  wet 
and  cold,  but  found  no  fire,  and  the  set  of  men  and 
women  inside  were  too  dirty  and  savage  to  tempt  us 
to  spend  the  night  with  them,  as  we  were  now  heartily 
disposed  to  do,  if  the  quarters  had  been  safe.  I  pre- 
ferred to  run  the  risk  of  getting  over  the  mountain  to 
staying  here.  This  was  the  unanimous  vote,  and 
again  we  plunged  into  the  storm.  Dreary  and  dismal 
was  the  way,  along  by  the  side  of  the  Lake;  the  Dau- 
ben  See,  and  in  the  midst  of  broken  masses  of  stone, 
strewed  in  wild  disorder.  We  were  near  the  summit 
when  the  rain  became  snow  and  hail,  and  the  winds 
swept  fearfully  over  us,  so  that  I  could  not  sit  upon 
my  mule.  I  had  scarcely  dismounted,  before  he 
slipped  on  a  ledge  and  fell ;  I  might  have  broken  my 
neck  had  I  fallen  with  him.  'No  signs  of  a  human 
habitation  are  on  this  lonely  height.  And  if  there 
were,  we  could  not  find  them  in  this  driving  storm. 
There  are  no  monks  to  come  with  their  dogs  to  look 


INTEKLACHEN   AND   BERNE.  179 

us  up,  if  we  lose  the  way.  "We  must  go  over  and 
down  on  the  other  side,  or  perish.  To  return  is  im- 
possible. Among  the  scattered  fragments  of  rocks,  no 
path  was  to  be  seen  ;  and  we  frequently  feared  that 
we  had  lost  our  way.  I  followed  the  guide  to  the 
brink  of  a  precipice  two  thousand  feet  deep,  and  per- 
pendicular. Down  the  face  of  this  solid  rock  leads 
the  most  wonderful  of  all  the  pathways  in  Switzer- 
land. So  narrow  as  just  to  allow  two  mules  to  pass 
as  they  meet,  the  zigzag  path  is  cut  out  of  the  solid 
rock,  and  covered  with  earth  and  stones  to  prevent 
our  feet  from  slipping.  The  mule,  by  a  wonderful  in- 
stinct, walks  upon  the  extreme  outer  verge,  lest  in 
making  the  sudden  turn  his  load  should  strike  the 
rock  and  tumble  him  off. 

Sheltered  somewhat  from  the  rain  by  the  overhang- 
ing rocks,  we  pursued  our  weary  way  to  the  bottom  ; 
and  then,  through  mud  and  mire  and  darkness, 
drenched  to  our  skins,  we  reached  the  Hotel  Blanche 
at  Leukenbad. 

This  is  the  great  bathing  establishment  of  Switzer- 
land. It  is  higher  above  the  sea  than  the  summit  of 
any  mountain  in  Great  Britain.  Again  and  again  it 
has  been  swept  away  by  avalanches,  and  is  now  pro- 
tected by  a  strong  wall  above  the  village.  The  water 
bursts  out  from  the  ground  immediately  in  front  of  our 
hotel,  and  supplies  the  baths,  which  are  twenty  feet 


1 80  SWITZERLAND. 

square,  and  in  which  a  dozen  or  twenty  men  and 
women  may  be  seen,  for  hours,  sitting  with  their 
heads  only  out  of  water,  reading  the  newspapers,  or 
books,  on  little  floats  before  them  ;  playing  chess  ;  or 
whiling  away  the  time  in  some  more  agreeable  man- 
ner. 

The  next  morning,  by  a  most  romantic  pathway 
along  the  borders  of  a  vast  abyss,  the  scene  of  a 
bloody  battle  in  1799,  we  pursued  our  journey  to  the 
valley  of  the  Rhone,  and  taking  the  Great  Simplon 
road,  through  Sion,  went  to  Martigny. 


CHAPTEK  X. 

s 

MONKS     OF     SAINT     BEENABD. 

The  Char-a-banc — the  Napoleon  Pass — Travellers  in  winter — Monks — Dogs — 
Pinner — Music — Dead-house — Contributions — a  Monk's  Kiss. 

HE  weather  was  threatening  when 
we  set  off  from  Martigny,  and 
we  had  many  forebodings  that  the 
dogs  of  Saint  Bernard  might  have 
to  look  us  up,  if  the  storm  should 
come  before  we  reached  the  hospice. 
A  char-a-banc,  a  narrow  carriage  in 
which  we  sat  three  in  a  line  with  the 
tandem  horses,  was  to  convey  us  to 
the  village  of  Liddes.  On  leaving  the  valley  and 
crossing  the  river  Drance,  we  soon  commenced  the 
ascent,  by  the  side  of  the  raving  torrent,  with  majestic 
heights  on  either  hand.  A  terrible  tale  of  devastation 
(181) 


182  SWITZERLAND. 

and  misery,  of  sublime  fortitude  and  heroic  courage, 
is  told  of  the  valley  of  Bagnes,  where  the  ice  had 
made  a  mighty  barrier  against  the  descending  waters, 
which  accumulated  so  rapidly  that  a  lake  seven  thou- 
sand feet  wide  was  formed,  and  a  tunnel  was  cut 
through  the  frozen  dam  with  incredible  toil,  when  it 
burst  through  and  swept  madly  over  the  country 
below,  bearing  destruction  upon  its  bosom.  In  two 
hours  some  four  hundred  houses  were  destroyed  with 
thirty-four  lives  and  half  a  million  dollars'  worth  of 
property.  We  were  four  hours  and  a  half  getting  up 
to  Liddes,  where  we  had  a  wretched  dinner,  and  then 
mounted  horses  to  ride  to  the  summit  of  the  pass. 

The  rain,  which  had  been  falling  at  intervals  all 
the  morning,  was  changed  into  snow  as  we  got  into 
colder  regions.  The  path  became  rougher  and  more 
difficult,  and  it  was  hard  to  believe  that  even  the 
indomitable  spirit  of  ISTapoleon  could  have  carried  an 
army  with  all  the  munitions  of  war,  over  such  a  route 
as  this.  Yet  the  passage  now  is  smooth  and  easy 
compared  with  what  it  was  when  in  1800  he  crossed 
the  Alps. 

Leaving  the  miserable  village  of  Saint  Pierre, 
through  which  a  Roman  Catholic  procession  was 
passing,  we  had  an  opportunity  of  refusing  to  take  off 
our  hats,  though  some  of  the  peasants  insisted  on  our 
so  doing.  We  came  up  to  heights  where  no  trees 


MONKS  OF   SAINT   BEKNAKD.  185 

and  few  shrubs  were  growing :  flowers  would  some- 
times put  their  sweet  faces  up  through  the  snow  and 
smile  on  us  as  we  passed,  and  I  stopped  to  gather 
them  as  emblems  of  beauty  and  happiness  in  the 
midst  of  desolation  and  death. 

The  most  of  the  travellers  on  their  upward  way, 
were  mounted  on  mules,  but  a  few  were  on  foot,  and 
among  these  was  one  of  the  monks  of  the  Hospice, 
who  with  a  couple  of  blooming  Swiss  damsels,  was 
returning  to  his  quarters  from  a  visit  below.  We 
passed  one  or  two  cottages,  and  a  house  of  stone 
which  has  been  built  away  up  here  for  the  reception 
of  benighted  travellers,  and  after  a  toilsome  journey 
of  four  hours,  just  at  sunset  we  came  upon  the  Hos- 
pice, a  large  three-story  stone  house,  on  the  height  of 
the  mountain  more  than  eight  thousand  feet  above 
the  sea,  the  highest  inhabited  spot  in  Europe.  To 
shelter  those  who  are  compelled  to  cross  this  formida- 
ble pass  in  winter,  when  the  paths  are  far  down 
underneath  the  snow,  and  travellers  are  in  danger  of 
being  overtaken  by  storms,  or  overcome  with  fatigue 
and  sinking  in  the  depths  of  the  drifts,  this  hospice 
has  been  founded  and  sustained.  In  the  summer 
season,  as  now,  it  is  merely  a  large  hotel,  where  plea- 
sure parties  are  drawn  by  curiosity  to  visit  the  monks 
and  their  establishment,  famed  the  world  over  for  its 
hospitality  and  self-denying  charity.  The  snow  was 


186  SWITZERLAND. 

falling  fast  as  we  ascended  the  rugged  pass,  and  at 
least  six  inches  of  it  lay  on  the  ground  at  the  top.  1 
was  glad  to  have  reached  it,  in  the  midst  of  such  a 
storm.  It  gave  me  a  vivid  picture  of  the  hospice 
when  its  walls  and  cheerful  fires  and  kind  sympathies 
are  needed  for  worn  and  exhausted  pilgrims.  Such 
were  some  who  arrived  here  this  evening.  Father 
Maillard,  a  young  monk,  received  us  at  the  door,  and 
after  pleasing  salutations  conducted  us  to  our  cham- 
bers, plainly  furnished  apartments  with  no  carpets  on 
the  floor,  but  with  good  beds.  The  house  was  very 
cold.  As  the  season  is  not  yet  far  advanced,  perhaps 
their  winter  fires  were  not  kindled,  and  as  no  fuel  is 
to  be  had  except  what  is  brought  up  from  below  on 
the  backs  of  horses,  it  is  well  for  the  monks  to  be 
chary  of  its  use.  Our  host  led  us  to  the  chamber  in 
which  Napoleon  slept  when  he  was  here,  and  my 
young  German  friend  occupied  the  same  bed  in 
which  the  Emperor  lay.  He  did  not  tell  me  in  the 
morning  that  his  dreams  were  any  better  than  mine, 
though  I  had  but  a  humble  pilgrim's. 

After  we  had  taken  possession  of  our  quarters,  we 
were  at  liberty  to  survey  the  establishment.  We 
began  at  the  kitchen,  where  a  small  army  of  servants 
were  preparing  dinner,  over  immense  cooking  stoves. 
The  house  is  fitted  up  to  lodge  seventy  guests,  but 
oftentimes  a  hundred  and  even  five  hundred  have 


MONKS    OF   8AIMT   BERNARD.  187 

been  known  to  be  here  at  one  time.  To  get  dinner 
for  such  a  host,  in  a  house  so  many  miles  above 
the  rest  of  the  world,  is  no  small  affair.  We  came 
up  to  the  Cabinet,  enriched  with  a  thousand  curious 
objects  of  nature  and  art,  many  of  them  presented  by 
travellers  grateful  for  kindness  they  had  received,  and 
some  of  them  relics  of  the  old  Romans  who  once  had 
a  temple  to  Jupiter  on  this  spot.  The  reception 
room,  which  was  also  a  sitting  and  dining  room, 
was  now  rapidly  filling  up  with  travellers,  arriving 
at  nightfall.  One  English  lady,  overcome  with 
the  exertion  of  climbing  the  hill  on  horseback, 
sank  upon  the  floor  and  fainted  as  soon  as  she  was 
brought  in.  A  gentleman  who  had  but  little  more 
nerve  in  him,  was  also  exhausted.  The  kind-hearted 
priests  hastened  to  bring  restoratives,  and  speedily 
carried  off  the  invalids  to  their  beds — the  best  place 
for .  them.  It  was  quite  late,  certainly  seven  in  the 
evening  before  dinner  was  served,  and  with  edged 
appetites,  such  as  only  mountain  climbing  in  snow 
time  can  set,  we  were  ready  at  the  call.  The  monks 
wait  upon  their  guests,  girded  with  a  napkin,  taking 
the  place  of  servants,  and  thus  showing,  or  making  a 
show  of  humility.  It  was  not  pleasant  to  my  feelings 
to  have  a  St.  Augustine  monk,  in  the  habit  of  his 
order,  a  black  cloth  frock  reaching  to  his  feet,  and 
buttoned,  with  a  white  band  around  his  neck,  and 


188  SWITZERLAND. 

passing  down  in  front  and  behind  to  his  girdle,  now 
standing  behind  me  while  I  was  eating,  offering 
to  change  my  plate,  and  serving  me  with  an  alacrity 
worth  imitating  by  those  whose  businesss  it  is  to  wait 
on  table.  And  when  I  said,  "  thank  you,  father,"  in 
Italian,  it  was  no  more  than  the  tribute  of  respect 
due  to  a  gentleman  of  education  and  taste,  whose 
religion  had  condemned  him  to  such  a  life  as  this. 
Father  Maillard  presided  at  the  table,  and  was  very 
conversable  with  the  guests;  cheerfully  imparting 
such  information  as  we  desired.  Of  the  eight  or  ten 
monks  here,  not  one  of  then  speaks  the  English  lan- 
guage ;  but  the  French,  Italian  and  German  are  all  in 
use  among  them.  I  inquired  of  Father  Maillard  if 
those  terrible  disasters  of  which  we  formerly  read  so 
much,  travellers  perishing  in  the  snow,  are  of  fre- 
quent occurrence  in  late  years.  He  told  me  that 
rarely,  I  think  he  said  never,  does  a  winter  pass, 
without  some  accident  of  the  sort.  Hundreds  of  the 
peasantry,  engaged  in  trade,  or  for  the  sake  of  visit- 
ing friends,  will  make  the  pass,  and  though  the  paths 
are  marked  by  high  poles  set  up  in  Summer,  these 
are  sometimes  completely  buried  under  mountains  of 
snow,  and  the  poor  traveller  loses  his  way  and  sinks 
as  he  would  in  the  sea.  He  also  told  me  that  after 
his  brethren  reside  in  this  cold  climate  for  a  few 
years,  they  find  their  health  giving  way  and  they  are 


MONKS  OF   SAINT   BERNARD.  189 

obliged  to  retire  to  some  other  field  of  labor,  and 
usually  with  broken  constitutions.  Yet  there  are 
always  some  who  are  willing,  at  this  hazard,  to 
devote  the  best  years  of  their  life  to  the  noble  work 
of  saving  the  lives  of  others.  Honor  to  the  men, 
whether  their  faith  be  ours  or  not. 

Our  dinner,  this  being  our  only  dinner  where 
monks  were  our  hosts  and  servants,  is  worth  being 
reported.  We  had  no  printed  bill  of  fare ;  but  my 
young  friends  helped  me  to  make  one  out  the  next 
day  as  follows  :  1.  Yermicelli  soup.  2.  Beef  a  la 
mode.  3.  Potatoes.  4.  Roast  Lamb.  5.  Roast  Veal 
stuffed.  6.  Dessert  of  nuts,  figs,  cheese,  &c.  This 
with  plenty  of  wine,  for  which  the  cellars  of  St.  Ber- 
nard are  famous,  was  dinner  and  supper  enough  for 
any,  certainly  we  were  prepared  to  do  it  justice,  as  to 
a  table  spread  in  the  wilderness. 

After  dinner,  the  party  now  numbering  fifty  or 
more,  assembled  from  the  two  or  three  refectories,  in 
the  drawing-room,  and  the  many  languages  spoken 
gave  us  a  small  idea  of  Babel.  One  of  the  priests 
took  his  seat  at  a  poor  piano,  sadly  out  of  tune  ;  and 
commenced  playing  some  lively  airs.  The  two  Swiss 
maidens  who  had  come  up  with  him  to  visit  the  hos- 
pice, stood  one  on  each  side  of  him,  at  the  piano, 
and  sang  with  great  glee  to  his  music,  and  at  the 
close  of  every  song,  the  party  applauded  with  hearty 


190  SWITZERLAND. 

clapping  of  hands,  that  would  have  pleased  Mario 
and  Grisi.  I  asked  Father  Maillard,  who  stood  by 
rne  all  the  evening,  and  with  whom  I  formed  a  very 
pleasant  acquaintance,  if  they  had  such  gay  times 
every  night.  He  said  that  during  the  summer  travel 
they  had  many  pleasant  people  who  enjoyed  them- 
selves much  during  their  brief  visit.  We  certainly 
did.  And  at  an  hour  later  than  usual  we  retired  to 
our  chambers.  It  was  so  cold  that  I  had  to  take  my 
Glasgow  blanket  and  wrap  myself  well  up  in  it  before 
turning  in,  but  I  slept  soundly,  and  was  awakened 
by  the  Convent  bell,  before  daylight,  calling  the 
monks  to  morning  prayers.  I  rose,  and  hastily  dres- 
sing, hurried  to  the  chapel.  The  priests,  the  servants, 
and  thirty  or  forty  muleteers  who  had  come  with  the 
travellers  were  on  their  knees  on  the  stone  floor  of  a 
pretty  little  chapel,  devoutly  worshipping.  Kone  of 
the  travellers  were  here :  but  those  who  entertained 
and  served  them,  had  left  their  beds  before  dawn  to 
pray. 

Breakfast  was  not  prepared  for  all  at  once,  but 
each  person  as  he  was  ready  called  for  his  coffee  and 
rolls,  and  they  were  immediately  brought. 

The  celebrated  dogs  of  St.  Bernard  were  playing 
in  the  snow  as  I  stepped  out  after  breakfast :  a  noble 
set  of  fellows  they  were,  and  invested  with  a  sort  of 
romantic  nobility,  when  we  thought  of  them  plough- 


MONKS   OF  SAINT  BEENAED.  191 

ing  their  way  through  drifts,  leading  on  the  search  for 
lost  travellers,  and  carrying  on  their  necks  a  basket 
of  bread  and  wine  which  may  be  as  life  to  the 
dead. 

The  dead  !  Come  and  see  them.  Close  by  the 
hospice  is  a  square  stone  house,  into  which  are  carried 
the  lifeless  bodies  of  those  who  perish  in  the  snow, 
and  are  found  by  the  dogs,  or  on  the  melting  of  the 
snow  in  the  summer.  They  cannot  dig  graves  on 
these  rocky  heights,  and  it  is  always  so  cold  that  the 
bodies  do  not  rot,  but  they  are  placed  in  this  charnel- 
house  just  as  they  are  found,  and  are  left  to  dry  up 
and  gradually  to  turn  to  dust.  I  counted  thirty 
skulls  lying  on  the  ground  in  the  midst  of  ribs,  arms 
and  legs ;  and  twenty  skeletons  were  standing 
around  the  sides  of  the  room,  a  ghastly  sight.  In 
one  corner  a  dead  mother  held  the  bones  of  her  dead 
child  in  her  arms  :  as  she  perished  so  she  stood,  to 
be  recognized  if  it  might  be,  by  anxious  friends,  but 
none  had  ever  come  to  claim  her.  What  a  tale  of 
tender  and  tragic  interest,  we  read  in  these  bones. 
Sad,  and  sickening  the  sight  is,  and  I  am  willing  to 
get  away. 

Father  Maillard  walked  with  me  into  the  chapel, 
showed  me  the  paintings,  and  the  monument  of  Gen. 
DESSAIX,  and  when  I  asked  him  for  the  box  into 
which  alms  are  put,  he  pointed  to  it,  and  hastened 


192  SWITZERLAND. 

away  that  he  might  not  see  what  I  put  in.  They 
make  no  charge  for  entertaining  travellers,  but  every 
honest  man  will  give  at  least  as  much  in  the  way  of  a 
donation  as  he  would  pay  at  a  hotel. 

My  friend,  as  I  now  call  him,  Father  Maillard, 
embraced  me  tenderly,  and  even  kissed  me,  when  I 
bade  him  farewell,  and  mounting  my  horse,  set  off 
at  eight  in  the  morning,  with  a  bright  sunshine,  to 
descend  the  mountain. 


CHAPTER  XL 

FIRST     SIGHT     OF     MONT    BLANC. 

The  Host  of  Martigny— Vale  of  the  Drance— Mount  Rosa— Tete  Noire— Col  de 
Balm— The  Monarch  of  the  Alps. 

RING  me  for  my  ride  to-morrow  the 
easiest  of  all  the  mules  in  Martigny," 
I  said  to  Antonio,  on  the  evening 
after  my  return  from  the  pass  of  St. 
Bernard.  I  was  knocked  up  nearly, 
done  over  certainly,  and  contempla- 
ted another  trip  with  a  sort  of  shrink. 
But  there  is  nothing  in  Martigny  to 
see,  after  you  have  looked  at  the 
measures  of  the  various  heights  to  which  the  water 
has  risen  in  times  of  inundation,  to  which  these  val- 
ley-villages are  sadly  subject.  So  in  the  morning — 
a  bright  glad  day  it  was — Antonio  came  in  to  tell  me 
(193)  9 


194:  SWITZERLAND. 

that  he  had  a  lady's  mule  for  me,  so  easy  I  should  be 
in  danger  of  falling  asleep  on  his  back ;  but  this  haz- 
ard I  was  willing  to  risk.  The  past  few  days  of  walk- 
ing and  riding  had  made  me  so  stiff  in  the  joints  that 
I  was  awkward  about  mounting,  and  my  host  of  the 
Poste^  a  huge  man  as  well  as  an  admirable  publican, 
put  his  hands  under  my  shoulders,  and  with  all  ease 
placed  me  astride  of  the  beast  in  a  moment.  The 
feat  was  received  with  applause  by  a  score  of  rough- 
looking  peasants,  guides,  beggars,  &c.,  of  whom  there 
are  plenty  in  this  unwholesome  valley ;  and  we  were 
off  for  the  vale  of  CHAMOUNI. 

Following  up  the  river  Drance,  we  turned  off  to 
the  right,  and  slowly  worked  our  way  by  a  bad  path- 
way, meeting  people  now  and  then  coming  down 
with  their  truck  to  sell  below.  One  man  had  a  log 
of  wood  with  a  string  tied  around  it,  dragging  it 
behind  him,  women  with  baskets  of  knick-knacks,  all 
intent  upon  driving  a  trade  in  a  very  small  way,  but 
industriously,  and  that  commends  a  people  to  you 
wherever  you  see  them.  On  the  left  were  terrible 
precipices,  along  the  edge  of  which  the  path  often 
led  us ;  till  we  came  to  a  lovely  reach  of  pasturages, 
a  wide  plain  where  cottages  were  scattered,  and 
flocks  were  grazing — a  peaceful  scene  in  the  midst 
of  rugged  mountains.  Crossing  this  plain  we  ascend- 
ed the  Forclaz,  and  from  the  ridge  looked  back 


FIKST   SIGHT   OF   MONT  BLANC.  195 

on  the  valley  of  the  Khone.  The  great  road  over 
the  Simplon  stretches  for  many  a  long  mile  up  this 
vale,  and  Sion  in  the  distance  is  seen  ;  and  around 
us  more  than  fifty  snowy  peaks  of  the  Alps  with  the 
morning  sun  gilding  their  crowns.  Among  them, 
but  in  beauty  above  them  all  is  Mount  Rosa,  admired 
even  more  than  Mont  Blanc  ;  and  now  that  peculiar 
tint  of  pink  was  spread  all  over  it  with  uncommon 
lustre.  "  Great  glory  "  was  the  exclamation  which 
often  rose  to  my  lips  as  from  one  and  another  point 
of  observation  I  looked  at  these  white  mountains, 
and  the  "  excessive  brightness  "  blazing  from  every 
summit.  But  we  cannot  always  be  on  the  mountain 
tops  looking  at  still  higher  mountains.  "We  descend 
into  the  valley  of  Trient,  into  which  a  glacier  extends, 
bringing  its  perpetual  ice  into  the  bosom  of  a  sweet 
vale,  where  green  meadows  were  rejoicing,  and  the 
peasants  were  busy  with  a  scant  harvest. 

We  have  our  choice  of  two  roads  from  this  valley 
to  Chamouni.  The  one  by  the  Tete  Noire  is  the  easi- 
est, and  we  resolved  in  the  freshness  of  our  strength 

7  O 

to  take  this  road  first,  and  having  pursued  it  to  the 
Tete,  to  enjoy  the  view,  and  then  come  back  and  go 
by  the  Col  de  Balm.  By  this  extra  effort  we  accom- 
plished a  noble  day's  work,  and  were  richly  repaid  for 
the  fatigue.  In  no  part  of  Switzerland  are  the  preci- 
pices grander  and  more  fearful,  and  for  an  hour  we 


196  SWITZERLAND. 

rode  along  the  edge ;  and  when  the  rocks  shoot  out 
over  the  path,  a  tunnel  or  gallery  as  they  call  it,  is 
cut  through  ;  and  near  by  a  rude  inscription  cut  into 
the  rock  celebrates  an  English  lady  who  contributed 
something  to  improve  the  pass.  The  Tete  or  Head, 
Black  Head,  is  given  to  the  dark  mountain,  whose 
overhanging  rocks  present  a  gloomy  front  which  has 
given  its  name  to  this  narrow  defile.  Hundreds  of 
feet  down  in  the  dark  abyss  on  whose  verge  we  are 
travelling,  the  Trient  is  roaring  and  leaping  along  its 
rocky  way  to  the  Rhone.  At  every  turn  in  our  zig- 
zag single-file  march,  we  are  tempted  to  pause  and 
study  the  scenes  of  sublime  and  terrible  that  break 
upon  us :  for  when  we  are  in  no  danger  ourselves, 
there  is  a  fascination  in  looking  upon  scenes  where 
the  fearful  makes  us  shudder.  But  we  returned  from 
these  out-of-the-way  places  and  were  at  noon  in  the 
valley  of  Trient  again,  gazing  at  the  lofty  crags  from 
which  Escher  de  Berg  fell  in  1791,  when,  like  many 
more  fortunate  travellers,  he  disregarded  the  advice 
of  his  guides,  and  lost  his  life  in  showing  his  temerity 
and  strength  in  making  a  leap. 

The  ascent  of  the  Col  de  Balm  has  been  described 
by  the  most  of  travellers  as  one  of  the  most  difficult, 
and  we  are  told  it  seems  incredible  that  mules  can 
work  their  way  up  where  travellers  are  obliged  to 
climb  by  the  roots  and  shrubs.  But  over  this  hill 


FIRST   SIGHT   OF   MONT  BLANC.  197 

lies  the  road  to  Chamouni,  and  over  this  hill  we  are 
going.  For  an  hour  we  did  have  hard  work,  and 
Heinrich  and  I  amused  ourselves  with  digging  up 
some  Greek  roots,  while  the  mules  were  slowly 
picking  their  way  among  the  stones  up  a  path  some- 
times all  but  perpendicular.  And  when  at  last  we 
emerged  from  the  forest,  and  reached  the  high  pas- 
turages, we  had  still  a  long  hour  of  travel  before  us, 
through  the  open  country. 

Our  party  had  been  enlarged  during  the  morning 
by  the  accession  of  others  on  the  same  route,  and  as 
we  were  nearing  the  ridge,  there  began  to  be  quite 
a  strife  among  us  as  to  whose  eyes  should  have  the 
first  sight  of  Mont  Blanc.  For  a  month  we  had  been 
on  and  under  the  mountains  of  Switzerland  ;  gazing 
successively  upon  higher  and  yet  higher  heights  ;  and 
when  the  Jungfrau,  and  Mount  Rosa,  and  other  of 
the  lesser  kings  of  the  country  had  stood  before  us, 
we  could  not  believe  that  any  other  could  be  a  mon- 
arch in  the  midst  of  such  mountains  as  these.  But 
Mont  Blanc  MTas  always  to  come.  It  was  the  last,  for 
we  had  seen  them  all,  rejoiced  in  them  all,  looked  up 
through  them  all  to  Him  who  holds  them  in  his.  hand, 
and  counts  them  only  as  dust  in  the  balance ;  and 
still  one  more  wonderful  than  they  was  just  before 
us,  OP  the  other  side  of  the  ridge,  and  in  a  few  mo- 
ments more  would  stand  up  and  meet  us  face  to  face. 


198  SWITZERLAND. 

Over  the  pasturages  there  were  many  paths,  and  we 
scattered  in  our  attempts  to  gain  upon  each  other. 
The  mules  seemed  to  catch  somewhat  of  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  occasion,  and  did  their  best,  till  we  came 
out  together,  neck  and  neck,  and  we  stood  on  the 
summit,  with  the  vale  of  Chamouni,  the  steeple-like 
Aiguilles  of  Charmoz  and  Midi,  Argentiere  and 
Yerte,  and  others  shooting  up  cold  and  black,  senti- 
nels around  the  hoary  old  monarch  of  the  Alps  lying 
there  with  a  crown  of  mist  on  his  head,  which  rises 
as  we  look  at  it,  and  Mont  Blanc  is  before  us. 

"  Disappointed  of  course,"  you  say.  Perhaps  so. 
It  does  not  stand  in  the  middle  of  a  plain,  and  rise 
right  up  like  a  pyramid,  till  its  apex  touches  the 
blue  sky.  In  fact,  you  must  be  assured  by  your 
guide  that  the  round  summit  to  the  South  of  two  or 
three  that  seem  to  be  higher  is  actually  Mont  Blanc, 
the  loftiest  of  them  all ;  and  as  you  sit  here  and  take 
in  the  wonderful  panorama  of  the  glaciers,  needles, 
and  majestic  summits,  the  grandeur  gradually  steals 
into  your  soul  and  takes  quiet  possession.  I  wanted 
to  be  still  and  absorb  the  scene,  which  I  should  soon 
leave  and  never  see  again.  I  would  expose  my  heart 
to  it,  till  a  sort  of  daguerreotype  was  made,  which  I 
could  carry  with  me,  and  look  at  when  I  should  sit 
down  at  Niagara,  or  among  the  White  Hills  of  New 
Hampshire. 


CHAMOUNI     AND     M  T  .     BLANC. 


FIRST   SIGHT   OF  MONT  BLANC.  201 

"  'Pon  my  honor,  'tis  very  fine,"  said  a  very  red- 
faced,  red-whiskered  Englishman,  who  had  followed 
me  to  my  solitary  stand-point.  "  What  do  you  think 
of  it  ?  Is  it  not  fine  :  very  fine  ?"  And  so  he  kept 
chattering  on,  till  I  crept  off  gently  a  few  rods,  and 
again  essayed  to  be  alone.  But  my  tormentor  fol- 
lowed up,  and  renewed  his  attack,  as  if  it  were  im- 
possible for  him  to  see  the  prospect  with  any  satisfac- 
tion unless  he  could  keep  talking  to  somebody  all  the 
while.  A  small  house  of  entertainment  stands  here, 
and  while  my  Englishman  went  in  to  have  some 
brandy  and  water,  I  managed  to  get  a  few  moments 
of  undisturbed  possession  of  the  scene.  Of  all  the 
points  of  observation  in  this  country  of  stupendous 
scenes,  there  is  no  one  that  furnishes  a  more  sublime 
and  glorious  spectacle  than  this.  It  is  the  crowning 
hour  of  the  tour  of  Switzerland.  I  felt  that  I  had 
reached  the  climax,  and  with  reverence  I  could  make 
a  parody  on  the  words  of  old  Simeon.  All  my  feel- 
ings have  been  of  reverence  in  this  country.  The 
Alps  and  God  have  been  around  me  for  a  month,  and 
my  soul  has  been  rising  in  high  converse  with  Him 
who  covers  these  hills  with  his  presence,  and  is  glori- 
ous in  the  solitudes  of  these  vales.  And  now  as  I 
look  off  at  these  glistening  glaciers,  so  many  miles  of 
resplendent  ice,  a  Mer  de  Glace,  a  sea  of  glass,  lying 
among  those  mountains,  and  extending  far  down  into 

9* 


202  SWITZEKLAND. 

the  vales  below  ;  when  I  look  up  at  these  precipitous 
peaks  actually  piercing  the  clouds,  and  then  at  the 
solemn  brows  of  those  giant  mountains,  where  the 
foot  of  man  has  seldom  trod,  and  the  glory  of  God  is 
forever  shining,  I  feel  a  sense  of  the  presence  of  the 
Infinite  and  Eternal  as  no  other  scene  has  ever  yet 
awakened  in  my  soul.  With  the  disciples  on  another 
Mount,  I  feel  "  it  is  good  to  be  here." 

That  was  my  first  sight  of  Mont  Blanc.  The  day 
could  not  have  been  more  favorable,  and  that  evening 
as  the  sun  went  down,  I  stood  in  the  vale  of  Chamouni 
and  saw  his  last  rays  lingering  on  the  summit,  the 
stars  trooping  around  it  at  night,  and  the  next  morn- 
ing before  sunrise  I  was  out  again  to  see  the  first 
beams  of  day  as  they  kissed  his  brow. 

Awake,  my  soul  I  not  only  passive  praise 
Thou  owest ;  not  alone  these  swelling  tears, 
Mute  thanks  and  secret  ecstacy  I    Awake, 
Voice  of  sweet  song !    Awake,  my  heart,  awake  I 
Green  vales  and  icy  cliffs,  all  join  my  hymn. — 
Thou  first  and  chief,  sole  sovereign  of  the  vale  I 
O  struggling  with  the  darkness  all  the  night, 
And  visited  all  night  by  troops  of  stars, 
Or  when  they  climb  the  sky,  or  when  they  sink  ; 
Companion  of  the  morning-star  at  dawn, 
Thyself  earth's  rosy  star,  and  of  the  dawn 
Co-herald  !  wake,  O  !  wake,  and  utter  praise  ! 
Who  sank  thy  sunless  pillars  deep  in  earth  ? 
Who  filled  thy  countenance  with  rosy  light  ? 
Who  made  thee  parent  of  perpetual  streams  ? 
And  you,  ye  five  wild  torrents  fiercely  glad, 


FIRST   SIGHT   OF   MONT   BLANC.  203 

Who  called  you  forth  from  night  and  utter  death, 
From  dark  and  icy  caverns  called  you  forth, 
Down  those  precipitous,  black,  jagged  rocks, 
Forever  shattered,  and  the  same  forever? 
Who  gave  you  your  invulnerable  life, 
Your  strength,  your  speed,  your  fury,  and  your  joy, 
Unceasing  thunder,  and  eternal  foam  ? 
And  who  commanded,  (and  the  silence  came,) 
"  Here  let  the  billows  stiffen,  and  have  rest  F" — 
Ye  ice-falls  !  ye  that  from  the  mountain's  brow 
Adown  enormous  ravines  slope  amain  1 
Torrents,  me  thinks,  that  heard  a  mighty  voice, 
And  stopped  at  once  amid  their  maddest  plunge  I 
Motionless  torrents  !  silent  cataracts  ! 
Who  made  you  glorious  as  the  gates  of  heaven 
Beneath  the  keen  full  moon  ?    Who  bade  the  sun 
Clothe  you  with  rainbows  ?    Who,  with  living  flowers 
Of  loveliest  hue,  spread  garlands  at  your  feet? 
God  !    Let  the  torrents,  like  a  shout  of  nations, 
Answer,  and  the  ice-plains  echo,  God  ! — 
God  I  sing  ye  meadow-streams  with  gladsome  voice  I 
Ye  pine-groves,  with  your  soft  and  soul-Jke  sounds  I 
And  they  too  have  a  voice,  yon  piles  of  snow, 
And  in  their  perilous  fall  shall  thunder,  God  I — 
Ye  living  flowers  that  skirt  the  eternal  frost, 
Ye  wild-goats  sporting  round  the  eagle's  nest, 
Ye  eagles,  playmates  of  the  mountain  storm, 
Ye  lightnings,  the  dread  arrows  of  the  clouds, 
Ye  signs  and  wonders  of  the  element, 

Utter  forth,  God  !  and  fill  the  hills  with  praise 

Once  more,  hoar  mount,  with  thy  sky-pointing  peaks, 
Oft  from  whose  feet  the  avalanche,  unheard, 
Shoots  downward  glittering  through  the  pure  serene, 
Into  the  depth  of  clouds  that  veil  thy  breast. — 
Thou  too,  again,  stupendous  mountain  thou 
That,  as  I  raise  my  head,  awhile  bowed  low 
In  adoration  upward  from  thy  base, 
Slow  travelling,  with  dim  eyes  suffused  with  tears, 


204  SWITZERLAND. 

Solemnly  seemest,  like  a  vapory  cloud, 
To  rise  before  me, — rise,  O  1  ever  rise, 
Eise  like  a  cloud  of  incense,  from  the  earth  t 
Thou  kingly  spirit  throned;among  the  hills, 
Thou  dread  ambassador  from  earth  to  heaven. 
Great  hierarch  1  tell  thou  the  silent  sky, 
And  tell  the  stars,  and  tell  yon  rising  sun, 
Earth,  with  her  thousand  voices,  praises  God. 

Coleridge. 


CHAPTEK 


GENEVA. 

A  good  House—  Prisoner  of  Chillon—  Calvin—  Dr.  Malan—  Dr.  Gaussen—  Col. 
Tronchin—  The  Cemetery. 


des  Bergues  stands  on 
the  Lake  of  Geneva,  just  where  the 
"  arrowy  ^  Rhone"  shoots  out  from 
its  bosom.  This  is  one  of  the  finest 
hotels  in  Europe,  and  with  the 
Trois  Couronnes  at  Yevay,  may 
fairly  challenge  comparison  with 
any  other.  I  brought  up  at  this 
house  from  the  Vale  of  Chamouni. 
The  dismal  rain  through  which  I  had  been  riding  on 
a  chill  autumn  day,  had  increased  to  a  storm,  and  the 
old  town,  that  is  gloomy  enough  at  any  time,  was 
peculiarly  uninviting  on  its  first  appearance.  But 
(205) 


206  8WITZEBLAND. 

this  city  I  had  longed  to  visit,  even  from  the  time 
that  I  read  in  Caesar's  Commentaries,  "  the  farthest 
town  of  the  Allobroges  and  the  nearest  to  the  fron- 
tier of  the  Helvetii,  is  GENEVA."  Julius  Caesar  took 
possession  of  it,  and  the  remains  of  his  erections  are 
to  be  seen  at  the  present  day. 

The  Christian  religion  was  introduced  in  the  fifth 
century,  and  bishops  appointed  by  the  Pope  by 
degrees  became  lords  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual, 
which  they  are  very  apt  to  do  as  fast  and  as  far  as 
they  can  get  the  power.  The  right  of  naming  the 
Bishops,  about  the  year  1400,  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  ducal  house  of  Savoy,  and  their  creatures  became 
despots  of  the  reddest  dye.  Their  oppressions  grew 
to  be  so  intolerable  that  the  citizens  rebelled.  A 
bloody  persecution  ensued.  The  chapter  of  its  his- 
tory is  among  the  darkest  of  the  records  of  popery. 
The  deeds  of  patriotic  heroism  which  were  brought 
out  have  scarcely  a  parallel.  One  citizen  cut  his 
own  tongue  out  with  a  razor,  lest  the  torture  should 
compel  him  to  betray  his  friends.  Bonnivard  became 
the  chained  prisoner  of  Chillon.  But  his  story  is  not 
to  be  passed  over  without  being  told. 

"  In  1530,  Francois  Bonnivard,  Prior  of  Saint 
Victor,  was  seized  on  the  Jorat  by  a  band  of  marau- 
ders, whose  chief  was  the  Sienr  de  Beaufort,  Governor 


GENEVA.  207 

of  Chillon,  for  his  bitter  enemy,  the  Duke  of  Savoy. 
As  a  punishment  for  his  heroic  defence  of  the  liberty 
of  Geneva,  he  was  condemned  by  the  petty  tyrant  to 
perpetual  captivity  in  the  castle.  Here  he  remained 
during  seven  years,  buried  alive  in  a  dungeon  on  a 
level  with  the  waters  of  the  lake,  and  fastened  by  a 
chain  round  his  body  to  a  ring  still  remaining  on  one 
of  the  pillars.  Irritated  to  agony  by  sad  reflections 
on  his  own  and  his  adopted  country's  slavery,  he 
wore  away  the  stone  floor  beneath  his  feet,  by  con- 
stantly pacing  to  and  fro,  like  a  wild  beast,  from  end 
to  end  of  its  cage.  At  length,  in  1536,  the  Bernese, 
with  their  allies  of  Geneva,  effected  the  conquest  of 
the  Pays  du  Vaud.  Chillon  was  the  last  place  which 
held  out  for  Duke  Charles  V.  of  Savoy,  but  the  Ber- 
nese having  laid  siege  to  it  by  land,  while  the  Gene- 
vese  gave  an  assault  by  water,  the  garrison  was 
forced  to  a  surrender,  and  Bonnivard,  with  several 
other  prisoners,  was  restored  to  liberty.  He  had  left 
Geneva  a  Roman  Catholic  state,  under  the  domination 
of  the  House  of  Savoy,  he  found  her  a  free  republic, 
openly  professing  the  reformed  religion.  The  citizens 
were  by  no  means  backward  in  recompensing  him  for 
past  sufferings ;  in  June,  1536,  he  was  admitted  to 
the  highest  privileges  of  the  State,  and  presented  with 
the  house  previously  inhabited  by  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic Vice-General,  besides  an  annual  pension  of  two 


208  SWITZERLAND. 

hundred  crowns  of  gold,  so  long  as  he  chose  to  dwell 
there." 

Then  came  the  .Reformation.  The  people,  long 
sick  of  Roman  despotism  and  disgusted  with  Romish 
wickedness,  embraced  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformers, 
and  Geneva  became  doubly  free.  John  Calvin  came 
in  1536,  and  Protestants  from  other  countries  fled  to 
Geneva  as  an  asylum  from  persecution.  His  genius 
and  austere  morals,  contrasted  with  the  dissoluteness 
of  the  Romish  Clergy,  gave  him  unbounded  influence 
in  the  state.  He  was  called  the  Pope,  and  Geneva 
the  Rome  of  Protestantism.  John  Knox  was  here 
with  him,  and  hundreds  of  distinguished  men  whose 
principles  made  it  necessary  for  them  to  fly  from 
England,  France,  Spain  and  Italy.  Through  the 
seventeenth  century  the  city  had  rest,  and  made 
great  progress  in  arts  and  science ;  the  resort  of  men 
of  learning,  and  distinguished  for  the  industry  and 
thrift  of  its  inhabitants.  The  eighteenth  century  was 
marked  with  insurrections,  distractions,  civil  wars 
and  revolution.  The  scenes  of  Paris  were  performed 
in  Geneva.  The  blood  of  her  best  citizens  was  shed 
by  the  hands  of  the  mob,  in  the  name  of  liberty. 
Then  the  city  was  grafted  upon  France,  and  so 
remained  till  1813,  when  with  the  aid  of  Austria,  it 
became  once  more  a  Genevan  Republic.  The  next 


GENEVA.  209 

year  it  became  one  of  the  Cantons  of  Switzerland, 
but  the  city  held  on  to  its  aristocratic  constitution. 
Still  it  flourished  in  peace  and  progress,  till  the  con- 
test between  the  radical  and  conservative  parties 
broke  out  in  1841,  and  resulted  in  the  revision  of  the 
constitution,  but  not  in  the  establishment  of  confi- 
dence and  quiet.  In  1846  a  fierce  struggle  occurred, 
still  fresh  in  every  memory,  which  ended  in  the 
establishment  of  the  present  constitution,  on  a  demo- 
cratic basis,  and  in  giving  an  impulse  to  the  attempt 
to  overturn  the  thrones  of  despotism  in  Europe ;  a 
noble  but  abortive  effort,  which  failed  in  1848. 
Geneva,  under  John  Calvin,  called  Europe  to  relig- 
ious liberty  in  1536,  and  the  people  heard  the  call. 
If  another  John  Calvin  had  been  in  Geneva  in  1848, 
we  should  not  have  been  compelled  to  deplore  the 
miscarriage  of  that  struggle  in  Europe  for  Constitu- 
tional liberty,  which  shook  every  government,  but 
eventuated  in  giving  a  charter  to  the  people  of  but  a 
single  State. 

I  had  been  wandering  a  month  among  the  moun- 
tains of  Switzerland,  and  had  not  had  a  line  from 
home.  The  bankers  closed  their  offices  at  four 
o'clock  and  it  was  nearly  five  when  we  arrived. 
Disappointed  and  grieved  I  returned  to  the  Hotel, 
the  more  sad  as  to-morrow  is  to  be  the  Sabbath,  and 
I  shall  not  be  able  to  get  my  letters  till  Monday.  It 


210  SWITZERLAND. 

occurred  to  me  that  something  might  have  been  sent 
for  me  to  the  care  of  a  venerable  and  well-known 
clergyman  of  Geneva,  whom  I  should  not  fail  to  see, 
and  I  would  therefore  call  at  once  upon  him,  without 
ceremony.  I  soon  found  his  gate.  A  woman  at  the 
lodge  answered  the  bell  and  took  my  card  up  to  the 
house  with  a  message  to  ask  if  anything  had  been 
left  for  me ;  for  it  was  late  and  Saturday  evening, 
and  I  would  not  intrude  upon  the  pastor  at  such  an 
hour.  In  a  few  moments  the  good  man  stood  on  the 
walk,  under  the  trees,  with  a  lantern  in  his  hand  ;  a 
tall  old  man,  with  long  grey  hair  hanging  in  curls, 
and  a  countenance  shining  with  love.  He  put  oat 
his  hands  and  throwing  one  arm  around  me  drew  me 
to  him,  as  if  I  were  his  only  son,  and  kissed  me.  It 
was  the  Rev.  Dr.  C^ESAK  MALAN,  and  a  welcome  such 
as  a  pilgrim  in  a  strange  land  can  feel.  Many 
pleasant  hours  I  had  with  his  interesting  family,  now 
reduced  by  the  frequent  inroads  which  my  country- 
men have  made  upon  it.  No  less  than  three  of  them 
have  repaid  this  good  man's  hospitality  by  carrying 
off  his  daughters  ;  and  the  last  but  one  had  been 
taken  but  a  few  days  before  I  arrived.  These  deeds 
were  done  by  clergymen  from  America,  and  when  I 
was  asked  in  a  social  gathering  of  Genevan  ladies,  if 
my  countrymen  were  obliged  to  go  abroad  for  their 
wives,  I  could  only  say  that  no  one  would  blame  them 


GENEVA.  211 

for  taking  a  wife  at  a  venture  when  they  come  to 
Geneva. 

The  gentle  GAUSSEN,  author  of  an  excellent  work 
on  the  Inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  charmed  me 
with  his  sweet  Christian  spirit,  and  his  broad-hearted 
charity,  so  happily  in  contrast  with  much  of  the 
foreign  half-reformed  religion,  which  in  England 
and  France  still  abounds.  D'Aubigne  was  not  at 
home. 

Col.  Tronchin  has  a  lovely  residence  out  of  town 
and  overlooking  the  lake.  He  sustains  at  his  own 
charges  an  asylum  for  convalescing  invalids,  one  of 
the  most  interesting  charities  I  have  ever  seen.  He 
took  me  through  the  establishment,  and  I  felt,  as  I 
never  did  before,  what  a  blessedness  it  is  to  have 
wealth  and  a  heart  to  use  it  for  the  sake  of  those 
who  are  suffering.  A  young  woman  sitting  at  the 
door  and  enjoying  the  sunshine,  pale  and  thin,  but 
smiling  with  the  prospect  of  returning  health,  rose, 
when  he  stopped  and  asked  her  if  she  was  getting 
well,  and  blessed  him  for  her  comforts,  with  looks 
and  words  of  gratitude  that  must  have  been  a  rich 
reward.  This  home  for  the  poor  is  charmingly  situ- 
ated in  the  midst  of  shade-trees,  with  walks  and 
beds  of  flowers,  and  furnished  with  everything  to 
promote  the  health  and  comfort  of  the  patients,  who 
come  here  when  discharged  from  the  hospitals  as  no 


212  SWITZERLAND. 

longer  requiring  medical  aid,  and  are  yet  unable  to 
labor.  In  the  pure  air  of  this  rural  abode,  and  sur- 
rounded with  all  all  the  good  things  which  this 
benevolent  man  has  provided,  twenty-five  invalids 
are  supported  at  his  expense,  and  as  soon  as  one 
departs,  another  is  ready  and  waiting  to  come  in. 
Indeed  it  occurred  to  me  that  many  of  them  would 
be  slow  to  get  well  if  they  must  be  banished  from 
this  lovely  spot  to  a  cellar  or  garret  in  a  crowded 
street,  to  toil  and  sicken  again. 

Begging  in  the  streets  is  forbidden,  and  in  the 
whole  of  Switzerland  you  may  distinguish  between 
the  Protestant  and  Catholic  cantons,  by  the  fact  that 
few  beggars  are  in  the  former,  compared  with  the 
crowds  that  infest  the  latter,  annoying  and  often  dis- 
gusting the  traveller.  The  morals  of  the  two  religions 
are  as  strikingly  contrasted.  The  Catholics  accuse 
the  Genevese  females  of  prudery,  and  Sismondi  tells 
us  that  the  young  women  are  "  pious,  well  brought 
up,  prudent  and  good  managers." 

In  the  cemetery  I  found  the  grave  of  Sir  Humphrey 
Davy  and  Pietet  and  other  distinguished  men, 
foreigners  and  citizens,  but  no  man  knows  where 
Calvin  is  buried.  He  forbade  any  monument  to  be 
erected  to  mark  the  spot,  and  so  it  has  passed  from 
the  knowledge  of  man.  But  in  the  old  cathedral, 
standing  on  the  spot  where  once  stood  a  pagan 


GENEVA.  213 

temple  of  Apollo,  is  the  pulpit  in  which  Calvin  and 
Knox  and  Beza,  Farel  and  Viret,  and  a  long  line  of 
glorious  men,  have  preached :  and  this  noble  build- 
ing, presenting  many  fine  specimens  of  architecture 
and  sculpture  of  the  middle  ages,  now  wrested  from 
the  hands  of  Popery,  is  a  fitting  monument  to  the 
memory  of  the  Reformers.  In  the  public  library 
founded  by  JBonnivqrd,  the  Prisoner  of  Chillon,  I 
saw  the  manuscripts  and  portraits  of  all  the  Genevan 
Reformers,  four  hundred  of  the  MSS.  being  Calvin's, 
and  a  collection  of  literary  curiosities  of  unrivalled 
interest.  There  is  little  else  to  see  in  Geneva.  Its 
attraction  lies  in  its  historic  interest,  its  delightful 
situation,  and  good  society.  In  and  around  it,  all 
along  the  borders  of  Lake  Leman,  are  sites  made 
famous  by  the  residence  of  men  and  women  of  taste 
and  letters. 


CHAPTEE  XIII. 


PICTURES     IN     SWITZERLAND.* 
Waterfalls— Constance— Zurich— William  Tell— Glaciers— the  Monarch. 

HE  waterfalls  of  Switzerland  are 
among  its  crowning  glories  ;  and  of 
these  the  falls  of  Schaffhausen  are 
altogether  the  most  imposing.  The 
European,  who  has  never  worshiped 
at  the  foot  of  our  own  great  cataract, 
looks  doMrn  from  the  base  of  the 
Castle  of  Lauffen,  after  paying  a 
franc  for  the  privilege  of  getting  to 
a  standing-place ;  or  he  looks  up  from  the  opposite 
shore,  where  is  reared  the  Castle  of  Worth,  and  he 
pronounces  it  magnificent.  Mrs.  Bull  does  not  hesi- 

*  The  preceding  letters  were  originally  addressed  to  the  New  York  Observer. 
This  chapter,  embracing  a  general  view  of  the  country,  withjiictures  of  scenes 
already  noticed,  was  ooptributed  to  Harper's  Monthly  Magazine. 

(214) 


PICTURES   IN   SWITZERLAND.  215 

tate  to  declare  it  charming  !  Mr.  Murray,  in  that 
everlasting  Red  book,  without  which  no  Englishman 
could  do  Europe — as  this  is  the  authority  on  which 
alone  he  ventures  to  admire  any  thing  in  art  or 
nature,  just  as  he  swears  only  by  the  Times — Mr. 
Murray,  in  his  never-to-be-dispensed-with  Hand-book, 
informs  him  that  this  is  "  the  finest  cataract  in 
Europe,"  and,  of  course,  in  his  opinion,  it  is  the  finest 
in  the  world.  He  leads  the  trembling  traveller  to 
the  verge  of  the  awful  precipice,  where,  covered  with 
spray,  he  may  enjoy  the  full  grandeur  of  this  "  hell 
of  waters,"  and  then  he  adds,  "  It  is  only  by  this  close 
proximity,  amidst  the  tremendous  roar  and  the  unin- 
terrupted rush  of  the  river,  that  a  true  notion  can  be 
formed  of  the  stupendous  nature  of  this  cataract !" 
The  Hhine  here  leaps  over  the  rocks  into  an  abyss  of 
fifty  feet.  The  river  is  cloven  in  twain  by  a  tower  of 
rock  in  the  centre  of  the  stream,  and  the  spray  rises 
from  its  base  in  an  eternal  cloud.  Picturesque  and 
beautiful  the  falls  certainly  are,  but  grandeur  can 
hardly  be  affirmed  of  them. 

It  was  my  first  day  of  travel  in  Switzerland  when 
I  reached  them — a  warm  day  in  the  summer  of  last 
year.  A  month  of  hot  weather  in  Dresden  and 
Munich  had  been  too  much  for  the  restoring  powers 
of  the  waters  of  Baden-Baden,  and  it  was  like  waking 
up  in  a  new  world  of  beauty,  with  a  new  soul  to  love 


216  SWITZERLAND. 

it,  to  find  myself  in  the  midst  of  this  Swiss  scenery — 
the  breezes  of  its  snow  hills  and  glaciers  fanning  me, 
and  its  peaks  pointing  skyward,  where  there  are  tem- 
ples and  palaces  whose  every  dome  is  a  sun  and  every 
pinnacle  a  star.  But  I  could  not  be  satisfied  till, 
with  the  aid  of  two  stout  fellows,  I  made  my  way 
through  the  boiling  waters  nearly  to  the  foot  of  the 
central  tower,  and  there,  in  the  toppling  skiff  which 
threatened  to  tip  over  on  very  gentle  occasions,  I 
looked  up  at  the  mass  of  waters  tumbling  from  above. 
The  rocks  were  partially  covered  with  green  shrub- 
bery, and  a  scraggy  tree  stretched  its  frightful  arms 
into  the  spray  ;  but  I  was  not  disposed  to  climb,  as 
some  have  done,  to  the  top  of  the  cliff,  for  the  sake  of 
enjoying  the  scene. 

A  curious  old  town  is  Schaffhausen,  so  named  from 
the  boat-houses,  or  skiff-houses,  which  were  here 
erected,  for  the  falls  made  this  the  great  terminus  of 
navigation  on  the  Rhine.  We  had  come  by  diligence 
from  Basle,  and  after  passing  a  night  in  Weber's 
excellent  hotel  at  the  falls,  we  came  on  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  spent  an  hour  or  two  looking  at  the  ancient 
architecture  of  the  town,  whose  buildings  are  adorned 
with  such  fanciful  and  extravagant  carvings  as  would 
hardly  be  deemed  ornamental  in  the  Fifth  Avenue. 

A  very  small  specimen  of  a  steamer  received  us 
now,  and  bore  us  up  against  a  strong  current.  The 


PICTURES   IN   SWITZERLAND.  217 

banks  on  either  side  were  green  with  vineyards,  now 
loaded  with  unripe  fruit,  and  in  the  midst  of  the 
vines  the  dressers  were  at  their  work.  On  the  slo- 
ping hillsides  the  neat  cottages  of  the  Swiss  peasan- 
try were  scattered,  making  a  picture  of  constant 
beauty  through  which  we  were  passing.  Among  our 
passengers  were  a  dozen  German  students,  with  their 
knapsacks  on  their  backs,  making  a  tour  of  Switzer- 
land, the  most  of  which  they  would  perform  on  foot, 
gathering  health  and  strength  as  they  trudged  on 
through  the  mountain  passes,  and  studied  the  glacier 
theories  on  the  spot. 

It  was  noon  when  we  arrived  at  Constance,  on  the 
lake  of  the  same  name,  and  a  city  to  be  forever  asso- 
ciated with  the  trial  and  martyrdom  of  John  Huss 
and  Jerome  of  Prague — a  city  on  which  the  curse  of 
shedding  innocent  blood  seems  resting  to  this  day. 
In  the  loft  of  a  long  building,  now  standing  near  the 
water's  edge,  was  gathered  a  Council,  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord  1414:,  over  which  the  Emperor  Sigismund 
presided,  and  attended  by  some  five  hundred 
princes,  cardinals,  bishops,  archbishops  and  professors, 
who  deposed  two  popes  and  set  up  another,  and 
crowned  their  four  years'  labor  of  love  by  condemning 
to  the  flames  those  martyr  men  of  God,  whose  names 
are  tffis  day  fragrant  in  the  churches  of  a  land  that 
was  not  known  when  Huss  was  burning.  In  the 

10 


218  SWITZERLAND. 

midst  of  a  cabbage  garden  outside  the  gate,  yet 
called  the  Huss  Gate,  we  were  led  to  the  spot  where 
he  Buffered  ;  and  returning,  we  called  at  the  house  in 
which  he  was  lodged  before  he  was  brought,  to  trial. 
But  the  streets  of  the  city  had  grass  growing  in 
them  ;  for  of  the  forty  thousand  inhabitants  who  once 
filled  these  houses  but  seven  thousand  remain !  Ten- 
ements are  now  tenantless  that  once  were  thronged 
with  life.  It  was  sad  to  wander  by  daylight  through 
the  streets  without  meeting  a  living  being  ;  and  this 
was  my  experience  here,  and  afterward  in  the  island 
city  of  Rhodes.  A  chain  stretched  across  the  street 
sustained  a  lantern  in  the  centre — a  very  convenient 
substitute  for  lamp-posts,  if  there  are  no  carriages  to 
pass,  but  a  very  awkward  arrangement  for  a  city 
infested  with  omnibuses. 

Another  day  and  the  diligence  brought  us  to 
Zurich,  on  the  lake  of  the  same  name — the  most 
thriving  town  in  Switzerland.  Here  the  lion-hearted 
reformer,  Zwingle — the  soldier  of  the  cross,  who  per- 
ished on  the  field  of  battle — preached  in  the  Cathe- 
dral, and  dwelt  in  a  house  which  is  still  standing  and 
known  as  his.  Here  Lavater,  the  physiognomist,  had 
a  home  and  found  a  grave,  over  which  the  flowers 
are  blooming.  His  was  a  lovely  and  loving  spirit. 
Switzerland,  strange  to  say,  has  not  given  birth  to 
poets,  but  she  is  the  mother  of  many  noble  sons,  and 


PICTURES   IN   SWITZERLAND.  219 

her  scenery  has  inspired  the  souls  of  the  sons  of  song 
from  other  climes,  who  have  wandered  here  and 
meditated  among  her  lakes  and  hills. 

Coining  into  Zurich,  as  we  descended  into  the  vale 
thalTholds  the  city  and  the  lake,  I  had  been  charmed 
with  the  view ;  and  now  at  the  close  of  the  next  day, 
we  were  led  to  the  height  of  one  of  the  old  ramparts, 
to  behold  a  Swiss  sunset,  and  certified  to  be  "  one  of 
the  finest  scenes  in  Switzerland."  The  elevation,  no 
longer  needed  for  purposes  of  defence,  has  been 
tastefully  transformed  into  a  flower-garden.  Enor- 
mous shade  trees  are  crowning  the  summit,  and  on 
rude  benches  the  romantically-disposed  people, 
citizens  and  strangers,  are  seated.  As  we  came  to 
the  top  of  the  hill,  the  god  of  day  was  coming  down 
from  the  midst  of  a  dense  cloud,  like  a  mass  of  molten 
gold  distilled  into  a  transparent  globe.  His  liquid 
face  was  trembling ;  but  the  world  below  sent  back  a 
smile  of  gladness  as  the  king  in  his  glory  looked 
down  upon  it.  The  nearer  summits  seemed  to  catch 
the  brightness  first,  and  then  in  the  distance  others, 
invisible  before,  stood  forth  in  their  majesty,  as  if 
called  into  being  by  his  quickening  beam?.  At  our 
feet  was  the  lake,  like  a  sea  of  glass.  The  spires  of 
the  city  and  the  sloping  hills  were  reflected  from  the 
mirror  ;  and  all  over  the  country  side,  as  far  as  the 
eye  could  reach,  were  thousands'  of  white  cottages 


220  SWITZERLAND. 

and  villas,  the  abode  of  wealth  and  peace  and  love — 
sweet  Swiss  homes,  rejoicing  in  the  sunshine  as  they 
send  up  their  evening  psalm  of  praise.  It  was  a 
scene  to  make  its  impress  on  the  memory,  and  to 
come  up  again  and  again  in  the  far-off  dreams  of 
other  lands  and  years. 

To  climb  the  Kigi,  to  spend  the  night  on  the  top, 
to  see  the  sun  go  down  and  get  up  in  the  morning, 
these  are  among  the  things  to  be  done  in  a  tour  of 
Switzerland,  and  all  these  we  set  off  to  do,  taking  the 
steamer  at  Zurich  and  touching  at  Horgen,  crossing 
over  to  Zug,  and  by  steamer  again  to  the  little  village 
of  Arth,  which  lies  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  we  are  to 
ascend.  As  we  were  approaching  the  shore,  the 
reflection  of  the  Rigi  from  the  lake  was  so  vivid  and 
perfect  that  we  could  study  the  mountain  in  the 
water  with  as  much  satisfaction  as  a  good-looking 
man  contemplates  his  own  person  in  a  glass.  Every 
particular  cliff  and  crag,  individual  trees,  and  wind- 
ing paths,  and  torrent  beds,  which  we  could  see 
above,  were  defined  with  marvelous  precision  below. 
On  landing,  we  dispatched  a  fleet  mountain-boy 
ahead  of  us  to  engage  beds  at  the  house  on  the  sum- 
mit ;  for  so  many  were  with  us  on  board  the  steamer, 
and  so  many  more  were  doubtless  climbing  from  the 
other  side  at  the  same  time,  that  we  were  likely  to 
have  a  bed  on  the  floor  unless  we  stole  a  march  on 


PICTURES    IN    SWITZERLAND.  221 

our  fellow-travellers.  Most  of  them  pushed  upward 
from  Arth,  while  we  kept  upon  the  plain  for  a  mile 
or  more  to  the  village  of  Goldau,  once  the  scene  of  a 
terrible  catastrophe,  the  gloom  of  which  still  seems 
to  be  hanging  over  the  ill-fated  spot.  The  Rossberg 
Mountain  is  on  the  east  of  it,  five  thousand  feet  high, 
and  in  the  year  1806  a  mighty  mass  of  it,  some  three 
miles  long  and  a  thousand  feet  thick,  came  sliding 
down  into  the  valley,  burjdng  four  hundred  and  fifty 
human  beings  in  one  untimely,  dreadful  grave. 
Travellers,  like  ourselves,  who  were  making  their 
way  among  these  romantic  regions,  were  suddenly 
overwhelmed  in  the  deluge  of  earth  and  stones,  and 
the  places  of  their  burial  are  unknown  to  this  day. 
This  event  happened  fifty  years  ago  ;  but  the  broad, 
bare  strip  on  the  mountain  side,  which  no  verdure 
has  since  clad,  is  an  ever-present  record  of  the  awful 
fall ;  and  the  great  rocks  that  are  lying  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  valley,  and  away  up  the  Rigi, 
are  present  witnesses  of  the  messengers  of  death  that 
came  down  in  their  wrath  on  that  memorable  day. 
The  village  church  was  then  buried  with  the  people 
who  had  been  wont  to  frequent  its  courts,  and  nothing 
of  it  was  ever  found  but  the  bell,  which  was  carried 
a  mile  or  more  and  now  hangs  in  the  steeple  of 
another  little  temple  filled  with  memorials  of  the 
ancient  calamity. 


222  SWITZERLAND. 

Here  we  began  the  ascent  of  the  Rigi.  Some  on 
horses,  some  on  mules,  more  on  foot,  two  or  three 
ladies  in  sedan  chairs,  each  borne  by  four  stout  men 
— a  very  lazy  way  of  getting  up  hill,  where  health 
as  well  as  pleasure  is  sought  in  travel ;  but  every  one 
choosing  his  own  mode  of  ascent,  and  none  having 
wings,  we  set  off,  as  motley  a  party  of  mountain- 
climbers  as  ever  undertook  to  scale  a  fortress.  Four 
hours'  steady  travel,  pausing  only  to  look  in  occasion- 
ally at  the  chapels  in  which  the  Catholic  pilgrims 
perform  their  pi-ay ers  as  they  ascend  to  the  church 
of  "  Mary  in  the  Snow,"  which  is  about  half-way  up, 
brought  us  to  the  top  where  as  yet  the  sun  was  half 
an  hour  high.  And  now,  for  the  first  time,  did  we 
know  that  we  were  in  Switzerland.  Not  because  we 
are  on  a  very  lofty  mountain  top — for  the  Rigi  is 
not  quite  six  thousand  feet  high — but  we  are  on  a 
mountain  which  stands  so  isolated  that  it  affords  us  a 
better  view  than  any  other  point,  however  elevated, 
of  the  mountains,  the  lakes,  valleys,  and  villages, 
that  make  this  land  so  peculiar  for  its  beauty  and 
grandeur.  On  the  west,  where  we  gazed  with  the 
deepest  emotion  as  soon  as  we  planted  our  feet  on  the 
summit,  we  saw  the  hoary  Mount  Pilatus,  and  at  its 
base  the  Lake  Lucerne,  the  most  romantic  of  the 
Swiss  lakes,  and  not  exceeded  by  the  scenery  of  any 
lake  in  the  world.  The  city  of  Lucerne  sends  up  its 


PICTURES   IN    SWITZERLAND.  223 

towers  and  battlements,  and  the  whole  canton  of  that 
name  is  spread  out,  with  the  River  Keuss  flowing 
over  its  bosom.  At  our  feet,  nestling  under  the  Bigi 
and  on  the  borders  of  the  lake,  is  the  village  of 
Kussnacht,  and  the  chapel  of  William  Tell,  marking 
the  spot  where  the  intrepid  patriot  pierced  the 
tyrant's  heart  with  his  unerring  arrow.  And  now 
the  descending  sun  is  pouring  a  flood  of  golden  glory 
over  all  this  broad  expanse  of  lake  and  forest,  plain 
and  towering  hills,  whose  peaks  are  touching  the 
blue  skies,  gilded  with  last  rays  of  declining  day. 
Far  southward  we  look  away  upon  the  mountains  of 
Unterwalden,  of  Berne,  and  of  Uri,  whose  snow-clad 
summits  and  blue  glaciers  are  in  full  view,  the 
beautiful  Jungfrau  rising,  queen-like,  in  the  midst 
of  the  magnificent  group  of  sisters  in  white  raiment. 
The  eastern  horizon  is  supported  by  the  snowy  peaks 
of  the  Sentis,  the  Glarnisch,  and  the  Dodi  ;  and  the 
two  Mitres  start  up  from  the  midst  of  that  region 
where  Tell  and  his  compatriots  conspired  to  give 
liberty  to  their  native  land.  All  around  us  are  lakes, 
BO  strangely  nestled  among  the  mountains  that  they 
seem  to  be  innumerable,  peeping  from  behind  the 
hills  and  forests.  And  now  the  sound  of  the  village 
bells,  and  the  Alpine  horn,  and  the  evening  psalm, 
comes  stealing  up  the  rugged  sides  of  the  Rigi,  and 
we  are  assured  that,  in  this  world  of  ice,  and  snow, 


224:  SWITZERLAND. 

and  eternal  rocks,  there  are  human  hearts  all  warm 
and  musical  with  the  love  of  Him  whose  is  the 
strength  of  the  hills. 

We  had  a  short  night's  sleep,  for  what  with  a  late 
supper  and  a  crowd  of  people  who  had  no  beds,  our 
rest  was  broken  ;  and  just  as  the  dawn  began,  a  mon- 
ster, with  a  long  wooden  horn,  marched  through  the 
halls,  startling  the  sleepers  with  its  blast,  and  forbid- 
ding sleep  to  come  again.  We  had  been  warned  over 
night  that,  at  this  signal,  we  must  wrap  up  and  run  if 
we  would  see  the  sun  rise  ;  and  as  a  posted  notice  in 
French  forbade  the  use  of  the  bed-blankets,  we  hur- 
ried on  our  clothes,  and  in  a  few  moments  stood,  with 
a  hundred  others,  like  the  Persian  fire-worshippers, 
gazing  eastward  to  catch  the  first  glimpse  of  the  com- 
ing king !  Not  long  had  we  to  wait.  Another  blast 
of  the  wooden  trump  gave  notice  of  his  approach,  and 
presently  a  coal  of  fire  seemed  to  be  glowing  in  the 
crown  of  the  mountain  directly  in  front  of  us.  It  grew 
till  the  whole  peak  was  ruddy  with  the  glow,  and 
then  the  great  globe  rose  and  rested  on  the  summit ! 
From  this,  as  from  a  fount  of  light  new-created  and 
rejoicing  in  the  first  morning  of  its  being,  the  streams 
of  glory  were  poured  out  upon  the  world  below  and 
around  us.  Peak  after  peak,  and  long  mountain 
ranges  and  ridges,  domes  and  sky-piercing  needles, 
and  fields  of  fresh  snow,  and  forests  of  living  green, 


PICTURES   IN    SWITZERLAND.  225 

began  to  smile  in  the  sunlight.  In  the  space  of  a 
brief  half  hour  the  world  was  lighted  up  for  the  busi- 
ness of  another  day,  and  when  we  had  had  a  cup  of 
wretched  coffee  and  a  bit  of  sour  bread,  we  "  marched 
down  again." 

The  steamer  from  Lucerne,  on  its  daily  trip  from 
that  city,  touches  at  Weggis,  where  we  awaited  its 
coming,  and  were  soon  in  the  midst  of  the  most 
romantic  scenery  in  Europe.  From  the  water's  edge 
the  mountains  rise  perpendicularly.  Broken  into 
ridges,  clothed  with  green  forests  or  smooth  pastures, 
and  now  and  then  sheltering  a  hamlet  in  the  openings, 
the  mountains  stand  around  this  lake  with  a  majesty 
too  impressive  for  words.  We  have  come  into  the 
heart  of  a  land  of  heroes.  The  waters  of  this  lake  are 
like  the  life-blood  of  martyrs.  This  little  village  of 
Gersau,  on  a  sloping  hillside,  shut  out  from  the  rest 
of  the  world  by  these  mountain  ramparts,  was  an 
independent  democracy  of  four  hundred  years,  though 
its  domains  were  only  three  miles  by  two  !  Here,  at 
Brunnen,  are  painted,  on  the  outer  walls  of  a  building 
on  the  waterside,  the  effigies  of  the  three  great  men 
who,  with  William  Tell,  achieved  the  independence 
of  Switzerland  in  1815.  Across  the  lake,  away  up 
among  the  ledges  of  the  rocks,  there  lies  a  little  plain, 
an  oasis  in  the  wilderness,  where,  in  the  dead  of  night, 
the  three  confederates  met  and  laid  their  plans  for  the 

10=* 


226  SWITZERLAND. 

deliverance  of  their  country  from  the  yoke  of  a  foreign 
oppressor.  That  spot  is  Grutli.  It  is  a  holy  place, 
for  liberty  was  there  conceived,  and  every  patriot, 
from  whatever  land  he  comes,  is  thrilled  when  his  eye 
looks  on  it.  Yet  not  so  sacred  is  Grutli  as  the  land 
upon  the  opposite  side  of  the  lake,  where  the  steamer 
slackens  its  speed  as  we  are  passing  a  little  chapel 
that  is  built  upon  the  margin  of  the  lake.  This 
chapel  marks  the  spot  where  William  Tell  escaped 
from  the  boat  in  which  he  was  a  prisoner  on  his  way 
to  Gessler's  prison  at  Kussnacht.  It  does  savage  vio- 
lence to  one's  better  feelings  to  be  told  that  no  such 
man  as  Tell  was  ever  living  in  this  land  we  are  now 
exploring.  He  has  been  our  ideal  of  a  patriot  chief- 
tain from  childhood,  and  we  are  not  to  be  cheated  out 
of  him  without  a  struggle.  Skeptical  critics  may  tell 
us,  as  they  do,  that  Tell  is  a  myth  ;  but  we  have  his- 
tory for  our  faith  to  lean  upon,  and  tradition  tells  us 
that  this  chapel  was  built  in  1388,  thirty-one  years 
after  the  hero's  death,  and  in  presence  of  one  hundred 
and  fourteen  persons  who  had  known  him  when  he 
was  living.  Such  is  our  faith,  and  as  we  are  passing 
by  the  chapel,  to  which,  even  unto  this  day,  the  Swiss 
make  an  annual  pilgrimage  and  have  a  solemn  mass 
performed  within  its  narrow  walls,  and  a  sermon 
preached,  we  will  tell  the  story  of  Tell. 

When  the  year  1300  was  coining  in,  Albert  of  Aus- 


PICTURES   IN   SWITZERLAND.  227 

tria  was  ruling  with  a  rod  of  iron  over  the  dwellers  in 
these  mountains.  He  sent  magistrates  among  them 
who  exacted  heavy  taxes  which  they  were  unable  to 
pay,  and  imposed  arbitrary  and  cruel  punishments 
upon  them  on  slight  occasions.  Arnold,  a  peasant  of 
Uterwalden,  was  condemned  for  some  insignificant 
offence  to  give  up  a  yoke  of  fine  oxen,  and  the  servant 
of  the  bailiff  seized  them  while  Arnold  was  plowing 
.with  them,  and  said,  as  he  drove  them  off,  "  Peasants 
may  draw  the  plow  themselves."  Arnold  smote  the 
servant,  breaking  two  of  his  fingers,  and  fled.  The 
tyrant  seized  the  father  of  Arnold  and  put  out  both 
his  eyes !  Such  cruelties  became  too  many  and  too 
grievous  to  be  borne.  Even  the  women  —  brave 
souls ! — refusted  "to  submit,  and  the  wife  of  Werner 
Stauffacher  said  to  her  husband  :  "  Shall  foreigners 
be  masters  of  this  soil  and  of  our  property  ?  What 
are  the  men  of  the  mountain  good  for?  Must  we 
mothers  nurse  beggars  at  our  breasts,  and  bring  up 
our  daughters  to  be  maid-servants  to  foreign  lords  3 
We  must  put  an  end  to  this !"  Her  husband  was 
roused,  and  went  to  Arnold,  whose  father's  eyes  had 
been  put  out,  and  Walter  Furst.  These  three  held 
their  meetings  for  counsel  at  Grutli.  Afterward  each 
of  them  brought  ten  men  there,  who  bound  them- 
selves by  a  great  oath  to  deliver  their  land  from  the 
oppressor.  This  oath  was  taken  in  the  night  of  No- 


228  SWITZERLAND. 

vember  17,  1307.  Not  long  afterward  the  bailiff, 
Herman  Gessler,  when  he  saw  the  people  more  rest- 
less and  bold,  resolved  to  humble  them.  He  placed 
the  ducal  hat  of  Austria  upon  a  pole,  and  ordered 
every  one  who  passed  by  to  bow  down  in  reverence 
before  it.  "William  Tell,  one  of  the  men  who  had 
taken  the  oath  at  Grutli,  held  his  head  proudly  erect 
as  he  passed,  and  when  warned  of  the  danger  of  such 
disobedience  stoutly  refused  to  bow.  He  was  seized 
and  carried  before  the  bailiff,  who  svas  told  that  Tell, 
the  most  skillful  archer  of  Uri,  had  refused  to  pay 
homage  to  the  emblem  of  Austrian  power.  Enraged 
at  Tell's  audacity,  Gessler  exclaimed, 

"  Presumptuous  archer,  I  will  humble  thee  by  the 
display  of  thine  own  skill.  I  will  put  an  apple  on  the 
top  of  the  head  of  thy  little  son  ;  shoot  it  off,  and  you 
shall  be  pardoned  !" 

In  vain  did  the  wretched  father  plead  against  such 
cruelty.  He  could  pierce  the  eagle  on  the  wing,  and 
bring  down  the  fleet  chamois  from  the  lofty  rocks,  but 
his  arm  would  tremble  and  his  eyesight  fail  him 
when  he  took  aim  at  the  head  of  his  noble  boy.  But 
his  remonstrances  were  all  in  vain.  The  boy  was 
bound  to  a  tree,  and  the  apple  set  upon  his  head.  The 
strong-hearted  father  took  leave  of  his  son,  scarce 
hoping  that  he  could  spare  him,  and  rather  believing 
that  his  arrow  would  in  another  moment  be  rushing 


PICTURES    IN    SWITZERLAND.  229 

through  his  brain.  "With  a  prayer  for  help  from  Him 
who  holds  the  stars  in  his  hand,  and  without  whose 
providence  not  a  sparrow  falls,  the  wretched  father 
drew  his  bow.  The  unerring  arrow  pierced  the  apple, 
and  the  child  was  saved.  Another  arrow  fell  from 
underneath  the  garment  of  the  archer  as  the  shout  of 
the  people  proclaimed  the  father's  triumph. 

"  What  means  this  ?"  demanded  the  tyrant. 

"  To  pierce  thy  heart,"  replied  Tell,  "  if  the  other 
had  slain  my  son  !" 

Gessler  ordered  the  man  to  be  seized  and  bound, 
and  hurried  off  to  the  dungeon  he  had  built  at  Kuss- 
nacht.  Fearing  to  trust  the  guards  with  their  pris- 
oner— for  he  knew  not  how  far  the  spirit  of  rebellion 
might  have  spread — Gessler  embarked  in  the  boat 
with  them,  and  hastened  off  lest  the  people  should 
rise  to  the  rescue  of  their  countryman.  The  lake  was 
subject  then,  as  it  is  now,  to  sudden  and  fearful  tem- 
pests. The  wind  rose  and  swept  the  waves  over  the 
boat,  defying  the  skill  of  the  boatmen,  and  threaten- 
ing their  speedy  destruction.  Tell  was  known  for  his 
skill  with  a  boat  as  well  as  with  a  bow.  Tyrants  are 
always  cowards,  and  when  the  tyrant  saw  that  his 
own  men  were  not  able  to  manage  the  craft,  he 
ordered  Tell's  bonds  to  be  removed  that  he  might 

O 

take  the  helm  in  his  hand.  Steering  the  boat  as  near 
to  the  projecting  rock  of  Axenberg  as  she  could  run, 


230  SWITZERLAND. 

he  suddenly  leaped  from  it  to  the  ledge,  and  the  force 
of  his  leap  sent  the  boat  backward  upon  the  lake. 
The  prisoner  was  free.  Pursuit  was  hopeless.  He 
was  at  home  among  the  mountains.  Every  path  was 
familiar  to  him.  But  vengeance  would  be  taken  on 
those  dearer  than  his  own  life.  He  resolved  to  pre- 
serve them  by  the  death  of  the  monster  who  had 
sought  to  make  him  slay  his  own  son.  With  the  speed 
of  the  chamois  he  sped  his  way  across  the  mountains 
to  the  very  place  where  he  was  to  have  been  carried 
in  chains,  and  there  awaited  the  coming  of  Gessler. 
The  tyrant  came  but  to  die.  The  arrow  of  the  patriot 
drank  his  heart's  blood.  Then  the  inhabitants  of  the 
mountain  fastnesses  flew  to  .arms.  The  minions  of 
Austria  were  seized,  and  with  a  wonderful  forbear- 
ance were  not  slain,  but  sent  out  of  the  country  under 
an  oath  never  to  return.  The  King  Albert  came  to 
subdue  the  rebels.  On  his  way  he  was  murdered  by 
his  nephew  and  a  band  of  conspirators,  whom  he  had 
thought  his  friends.  He  expired  at  the  wayside,  his 
head  being  supported  by  a  peasant  woman  who  found 
him  lying  in  his  blood.  The  children  of  the  murdered 
man  and  his  widow,  and  Agnes  the  Queen  of  Hun- 
gary, took  terrible  vengeance  on  the  murderers,  and, 
confounding  the  innocent  with  the  guilty,  shed  blood 
like  water.  Agnes  was  a  woman-fiend.  As  the  blood 
of  sixty-three  guiltless  knights  was  flowing  at  her 


PICTURES   IN   SWITZERLAND.  231 

feet,  she  said:  "See,  now  I  am  bathing  in  May- 
dew!"  One  of  the  most  distinguished  o*f  the  ene- 
mies of  the  King,  the  Knight  Rudolf,  was,  at  her 
orders,  broken  on  the  rack,  and  while  yet  living  was 
exposed  to  the  birds  of  prey.  While  dying,  he  con- 
Boled  his  faithful  wife,  who  alone  knelt  near  him,  and 
had  in  vain  prostrated  herself  in  the  dust  at  the  feet 
of  Agnes,  imploring  her  husband's  pardon.  But  the 
war  of  oppression  went  on.  An  army  marched  into 
Switzerland,  and  to  the  many  thousands  of  their 
invaders  the  men  of  Grutli  could  oppose  only  thirteen 
thousand.  But  they  were  all  true  men,  and  at  Mor- 
garten,  on  a  rosy  morning  in  1315,  they  met  the 
enemy  and  routed  them  utterly,  after  such  deeds  of 
valor  as  history  scarcely  elsewhere  has  recorded. 
This  gave  freedom  to  Switzerland.  Of  that  struggle 
the  first  blow  was  struck  by  William  Tell  when  he 
smote  Gessler  to  the  earth. 

At  the  head  of  the  Lake  of  Lucerne,  and  a  few 
miles  above  the  chapel  of  Tell,  is  the  village  of 
Fluelen,  at  which  we  rest  only  long  enough  to  ge* 
away,  for  the  low  grounds,  where  the  River  Reuss 
comes  down  into  the  lake,  breeds  pestilence,  and  the 
inhabitants  give  proofs  of  the  unhealthiness  of  the 
place  by  the  number  of  cretins  and  goitred  cases 
that  are  found  among  them.  Two  miles  beyond  is 
the  old  town  of  Altorf.  Lapped  in  the  midst  of 


232  SWITZEKLAND. 

rugged  mountains,  which  shut  down  closely  on  every 
eide,  it  is  secluded  from  the  world  that  is  familiar 
with  its  name.  Here,  on  this  village  green,  in  front 
of  the  old  tower,  a  fountain,  surmounted  by  a  statue, 
marks  the  spot  where  William  Tell  shot  the  apple 
from  the  head  of  his  son.  The  tree  on  which  the 
ducal  hat  was  hung  by  Gessler,  and  the  same  -to 
which  the  boy  was  bound,  is  said  to  have  remained 
there  three  hundred  years  after  the  event.  The 
tower  dates  back  of  that  time,  as  records  still  in 
existence  prove  it  to  be  more  than  five  hundred  and 
fifty  years  old.  To  this  day  the  hunters  of  Uri  come 
down  to  Altorf  to  try  their  skill  with  the  rifle,  which 
has  now  taken  the  place  of  the  bow  and  arrow. 

A  few  miles  further  on  we  came  to  the  River 
Reuss,  in  which  William  Tell  was  drowned  while 
attempting  to  save  the  life  of  a  boy.  There  was 
something  sublime  in  the  thought  that  a  man  whose 
name  is  now  identified  with  the  patriots  and  heroes 
of  the  world  should  finally  lose  his  life  in  the  per- 
formance of  a  deed  that  requires  more  of  the  self- 
sacrificing  spirit  than  to  scale  the  walls  of  a  fortress 
and  perish  in  the  midst  of  a  nation's  praise. 

The  men  of  this  region  are  spoken  of  as  the  finest 
race  in  Switzerland.  We  had  no  reason  to  think  them 
remarkable ;  but  the  women,  who  were  making  hay 
in  the  meadows  while  the  men  were  off  hunting, 


PICTURES    IN    SWITZERLAND.  233 

were  certainly  very  good-looking  for  women  who 
work  in  the  fields  in  all  weathers,  braving  the  storms 
of  rain  and  snow,  tending  the  sheep  and  cattle  on  the 
hillsides,  and  carrying  the  hay  on  their  backs  to  the 
barns. 

As  we  pressed  our  way  up  the  great  Saint  Gothard 
road,  frowning  precipices  rise  a  thousand  feet  high, 
black,  jagged  rocks,  almost  bare  of  vegetation,  shut- 
ting out  the  sunlight,  and  making  a  solitude  fearful 
and  solemn,  its  silence  rarely  disturbed  but  by  the 
passing  traveller  and  the  ceaseless  dashing  of  the 
river,  which,  instead  of  flowing,  tumbles  from  ledge 
to  ledge.  In  the  spring  of  the  year  the  avalanches 
make  the  passage  still  more  fearful. 

Twenty  or  thirty  thousand  persons  travel  over  this 
pass  every  year ;  and  to  keep  the  current  in  this 
direction,  the  cantons  of  Uri  and  Tessin  built  this 
splendid  carriage-path,  as  smooth  as  a  floor,  and  so 
firm  in  its  substructures  as  to  resist  the  violence  of 
the  storms  and  the  swollen  torrents  that  so  often  rush 
frightfully  down  these  gorges.  Twice  was  the  work 
swept  away  before  this  road  was  completed,  which,  it 
is  believed,  will  stand  while  the  mountains  stand. 
So  rapid  is  the  ascent,  that  the  road  often  doubles 
upon  itself,  and  we  are  going  half  the  time  backward 
on  our  route.  Sometimes  the  road  is  hewn  out  of 
the  solid  rock  in  the  side  of  the  precipice,  which 


234  SWITZERLAND. 

hangs  over  it  as  a  roof,  and  again  it  is  carried  over 
the  roaring  stream  that  is  boiling  in  a  gulf  four 
hundred  feet  below.  Toiling  up  the  gorge,  with  the 
savage  wildness  of  the  scenery  becoming  every 
moment  more  savage  still,  we  reach  the  Devil's 
Bridge.  More  than  five  hundred  years  ago,  an  old 
abbot  of  Einsiedeln  built  a  bridge  over  an  awful 
chasm  here ;  but  such  is  the  fury  of  the  descending 
stream,  the  whole  mass  of  waters  being  beaten  into 
foam  among  the  rocks  that  lift  their  heads  through 
the  cataracts — such  is  the  horrid  ruggedness  of  the 
surrounding  scenery,  and  so  unlikely  does  it  appear 
that  human  power  could  ever  have  reared  a  bridge 
over  such  a  fearful  chasm,  it  has  been  called,  from 
time  immemorial,  the  Devil's  Bridge.  A  Christian 
traveller  would  much  prefer  to  ascribe  its  origin  to  a 
better  source ;  for  whatever  miracle  it  required,  we 
might  refer  it  to  the  skill  and  goodness  of  Him  who 
hung  the  earth  upon  nothing,  and  holds  the  stars  in 
his  hand.  We  were  quite  cold  when  we  reached  the 
bridge,  and,  quitting  the  carriage,  walked  over  it  to 
study  its  structure,  and  enjoy  the  grandeur  of  a  scene 
that  has  hardly  an  equal  even  in  this  land  of  the 
sublime  and  terrible.  At  this  spot  the  River  Reuss 
makes  a  tremendous  plunge  at  the  very  moment 
that  it  bends  nearly  in  a  semicircle,  and  a  world  of 
rocks  has  been  hurled  and  heaped  in  the  midst  of  the 


PICTURES   IN   SWITZERLAND.  235 

torrent,  to  increase  the  rage  and  roar  of  the  waters, 
arrested  for  a  moment  only  to  gather  strength  for  a 
more  terrific  rush  into  the  abysses  below.  We 
approach  the  parapet,  and  look  calmly  over,  and 
there,  far  below  us,  is  another  bridge,  which,  becom- 
ing useless  by  age  and  the  violence  of  the  elements, 
was  superseded  by  this  new  and  costly  structure. 

"We  crossed  the  bridge  and  soon  entered  the  long 
Gallery  of  Uri — a  tunnel  cut  through  the  solid  rock 
— a  hard  but  the  only  passage,  as  the  torrent  usurps 
the  whole  of  the  gorge,  and  the  precipice  above 
admits  no  possible  path  overhead.  A  hundred  and 
fifty  years  ago  this  hole  was  bored,  and  before  that 
time  the  only  passage  was  made  on  a  shelf  supported 
by  chains  let  down  from  above,  on  which  a  single 
traveller  could  creep,  if  he  had  the  nerve,  in  the 
midst  of  the  roar  and  the  spray  of  the  torrent  in  the 
yawning  gulf  below  him.  To  add  to  the  gloom  and 
terror  of  the  scene  about  us,  a  storm,  with  thunder 
and  lightning  broke  upon  us  as  we  emerged  from  this 
den,  and  right  speedily  set  in  while  as  yet  we  had  no 
shelter.  We  had  come  into  an  upper  valley,  a  vale 
five  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  where 
no  corn  grows,  though  the  l^nd  flows  with  milk  and 
honey.  The  cows  and  goats  find  pasture  at  the  foot 
of  the  glaciers,  and  the  bees,  who  find  flowers  even 
in  these  realms  of  eternal  snow,  make  their  nests  in 


236  SWITZERLAND. 

the  stunted  trees  and  the  holes  in  the  rocks.  At  An- 
dermatt,  a  village  among  the  mountains,  we  come 
upon  an  inn  whose  many  lighted  windows  invited  us 
to  seek  refuge,  from  the  increasing  storm,  and  we 
entered  a  room  already  thronged  with  travellers  who 
had  reached  it  before  us,  many  of  them  coming  down, 
and  they  were  now  rejoicing  over  a  smoking  supper. 
They  made  us  welcome,  and  in  the  good  cheer  we 
soon  forgot  the  fatigues  and  the  perils  of  the  most  ex- 
citing and  exhausting  day  we  had  had  in  Switzer- 
land. 

"  Blessed  be  he  who  first  invented  sleep,"  the 
weary  traveller  says,  with  Sancho,  whenever  night 
comes,  and  wherever,  if  he  is  so  happy  as  to  have  a 
place  wherein  and  on  to  lay  his  head.  Sleep,  that 
will  not  come  for  wooing  to  him  who  wastes  his  hours 
in  idleness  at  home,  now  folds  her  soft  arms  lovingly 
about  him,  kisses  his  eyelids,  whispers  gentle  memo- 
ries in  his  soul,  and  dreams  of  the  loved  and  the  dis- 
tant are  his  as  the  swift  night-hours  steal  away.  The 
nights  are  not  long  enough  ;  for  when  the  first  nap  is 
past  the  sun  of  another  day  is  struggling  to  get  over 
the  hill-top  and  look  down  into  the  vale  of  Ander- 
matt ! 

We  might  pursue  this  St.  Gothard  highway  over 
in-to  Italy,  but  we  have  not  yet  seen  Switzerland. — 
Hitherto  we  have  been  traversing  only  the  great 


PICTURES   IN   SWITZERLAND.  237 

roads  of  travel.  Now  we  will  strike  off  into  the  re- 
gions where  wheel  carriages  have  never  yet  been 
seen.  The  Furca  Pass  leads  off  from  the  St.  Gothard 
road,  and  with  a  guide  to  pilot  us,  we  struck  into  a 
narrow  defile.  Away  above  us  the  blue  glacier  of 
St.  Anne  was  shining  in  the  morning  sun,  and  now 
we  are  at  the  foot  of  a  beautiful  waterfall  that  leaps 
from  its  bosom  into  the  vale  below.  Here  are  the 
remains  of  an  awful  avalanche  of  rocks  and  earth  that 
came  down  a  few  years  since,  on  a  little  hamlet  clus- 
tering on  the  hillside.  The  inhabitants  fled  as  they 
heard  it  coming,  but  a  maiden,  tending  a  babe,  re- 
fused to  leave  her  precious  charge,  and  could  not  fly 
with  it  as  rapidly  as  the  rest.  •  She  perished  with  it  in 
her  arms.  Soon  we  came  to  a  mountain  stream  which 
crossed  our  path,  and  the  bridge  had  been  swept 
away  by  an  avalanche  only  the  very  night  before. 
There  were  no  signs  of  danger  now,  and  we  could 
scarcely  believe  the  stories  that  were  told  us  of  the 
sudden  destruction  wrought  by  these  thunderbolts  of 
snow,  and  ice,  and  earth,  which  are  the  terror  of 
these  regions.  The  village  we  slept  in  last  night  is 
protected  by  a  forest  of  trees  so  arranged  as  to  receive 
and  ward  off  the  slides ;  but  they  come  at  times  with 
such  force  as  to  cut  off  the  trees,  and  bury  everything 
in  undistinguished  ruin. 

This  pedestrianism  is  very  well  to  boast  of  at  home, 


238  SWITZERLAND. 

and  for  those  who  are  used  to  it  and  fond  of  it,  it 
may  be  a  very  agreeable  mode  of  travel ;  I  confess  I 
was  tired  of  it  the  first  day,  and  took  to  the  horse  as 
decidedly  a  better,  as  it  certainly  is  an  easier  method 
of  transit.  It  was  just  about  as  much  as  I  could  do  to 
walk,  and  think  of  the  number  of  miles  we  had  gone, 
and  had  yet  to  go,  with  scarcely  any  spirit  to  enjoy  the 
romance  of  the  scenery,  the  glaciers  and  waterfalls, 
the  precipices  and  snowy  summits  that  were  around 
me  ;  and  groaning  all  the  while  with  the  burden  of 
locomotion.  It  was  another  thing  altogther  to  sit 
on  a  horse,  and  folding  one's  arms,  to  look  upward 
and  around  rejoicing  in  the  wonders  of  God's  world, 
and  breathing  in  with  the  mountain  air,  the  rich  in- 
spirations of  the  scene. 

We  are  now  so  far  up  in  the  world  that  the  snow, 
though  the  month  of  August  is  closing,  is  lying  by 
the  side  of  the  pathway,  while  the  wild  flowers,  in 
bright  and  beautiful  colors,  are  blooming  in  the  sun, 
and  close  to  the  edges  of  these  chilling  banks.  On 
our  right  hand  the  Galenstoch  glacier  lies  among  the 
peaks  of  naked  rock  that,  like  the  battlements  of 
some  thunder-riven  castle,  shoot  upward  eleven  thou- 
sand feet  into  the  clear  blue  sky.  We  are  among  the 
ice-palaces  of  the  earth.  I  hug  my  great  coat  closely, 
as  the  cold  winds  from  these  eternal  icebergs  search 
me,  and  in  a  few  minutes  reached  the  inn  at  the  sum- 


PICTUBES   IN   SWITZERLAND.  239 

mit  of  the  Furca  Pass.  Snow-clad  summits  of  dis- 
tant mountains  glistened  in  the  noonday  sun,  and 
blue  glaciers  wound  along  and  down  the  gorges,  and 
so  far  above  the  valleys  were  we  now  that  it  seemed 
like  a  world  without  inhabitants,  desolate,  cold,  and 
majestic,  in  its  solitude  and  icy  splendor. 

The  descent  was  too  rapid  for  safe  riding,  and,  giv- 
ing the  horse  to  the  guide,  who  would  lead  him 
around,  I  leaped  down  the  steep  declivity,  and  soon 
found  myself  in  a  lovely  vale.  Turning  suddenly 
around  a  promontory,  a  scene  of  such  grandeur  and 
beauty  burst  upon  our  sight  as  we  had  not  yet  encoun- 
tered, even  in  this  land  of  wonders.  An  ocean  lashed 
into  ridges  and  covered  with  foam,  then  suddenly 
congealed,  would  not  be  the  spectacle  !  Freeze  the 
cataract  of  Niagara  and  the  rapids  above  it,  and  let 
them  rise  a  thousand  feet  into  the  air ;  congeal  the 
clouds  of  spray,  the  falling  jewelry  ;  pi]e  up  pyramids 
and  minarets,  and  columns,  and  battlements  of  ice, 
and  then,  at  each  side  of  this  magnificent  scene,  set 
a  tall  mountain,  with  green  pasturage  on  its  sides, 
and  its  head  crowned  with  everlasting  snow,  and  you 
have  some  faint  image  of  the  Glacier  of  the  Rhone  ! 
Travellers  have  called  it  the  Frozen  Ocean  of  Swit- 
zerland. But  it  is  more  than  this.  And  yet  out  of 
its  I  osom,  its  cold  but  melting  heart,  the  River  Rhone 
is  flowing.  This  is  its  source.  The  daring  adven- 


24:0  SWITZERLAND. 

turer  may  follow  it  up,  beneath  the  blue  arches  and 
between  the  polished  walls,  till  he  finds  himself  far 
away  in  these  caverns  of  ice,  where  no  living  thing 
abides.  And  here  he  learns  the  great  design  of  a  be- 
nificent  Creator  in  forming  these  glaciers.  The  snows 
of  winter  are  here  stored  up,  and,  instead  of  being 
suddenly  melted  in  the  spring,  and  then  sent  down 
in  torrents  to  devastate  the  lands  through  which  the 
overwhelming  currents  would  be  borne,  they  are 
melted  by  degrees,  and  led  by  channels  through  these 
mountain  passes  into  the  river  beds  that  water  all  the 
countries  of  Europe  !  For  this  great  purpose  Switzer- 
land was  built !  It  has  been  lightly  said  that  this 
Swiss  country  looks  as  if  it  had  been  the  leavings  of 
the  world  when  creation  was  finished,  and  the  refuse 
material  that  could  not  be  conveniently  worked  in 
had  been  thrown  in  dire  confusion,  heaps  on  heaps, 
into  this  wilderness  of  jagged  rocks,  and  shapeless 
mountains,  and  disordered  ranges  of  hill  and  vale — 
impracticable  for  man  or  beast — a  rude,  wild  land, 
doomed  to  perpetual  poverty,  and  existing  only  to  be 
an  object  of  curiosity,  to  the  traveller.  But  we  find 
it  to  be  the  great  fountain  of  living  waters,  pouring 
its  inexhaustible  streams  into  the  wide  and  many 
lands  below,  carrying  fertility  and  beauty  over  mil- 
lions of  acres,  and  food  and  gladness  to  countless 
homes. 


PICTURES   IN   SWITZERLAND.  241 

A  hard  hill  to  climb  was  the  Grimsel.  Sometimes 
I  rode,  but  more  frequently  I  was  content  to  toil  up- 
ward on  my  own  feet,  without  taxing  the  jaded  horse 
with  my  weight  to  be  added  to  his  own.  But  when 
we  readied  the  summit,  and  overtook  other  parties 
who  were  before  us,  and  were  overtaken  by  yet  oth- 
ers coming  up  behind,  we  formed  a  picturesque  pro- 
cession of  some  forty  or  fifty  pilgrims,  who  wound 
slowly  along  the  banks  of  the  Dead  Sea — a  lake  that 
lies  away  up  among  these  frozen  heights,  and  derives 
its  name  from  the  fact  that  it  was  once  the  grave  of 
a  multitude  of  soldiers  who  perished  in  the  fight  in 
these  mountain  fastnesses. 

The  vale  of  the  Grimsel  is  beneath  us,  and  just  be- 
fore the  sun  sets  we  reach  the  Hospice,  and  eagerly 
ask  for  lodgings.  On  the  borders  of  a  little  lake,  in 
the  bottom  of  a  narrow  valley,  surrounded  by  al- 
most perpendicular  rocks,  stands  this  solitary  house, 
in  former  years  inhabited  by  friendly  monks  who 
made  it  their  pious  care  to  entertain  the  traveller  and 
furnish  free  hospitality  to  the  poor.  Now  it  is  a 
hotel,  and  a  very  poor  one  at  that,  where  you  may 
get  a  supper,  and  a  bed,  and  a  large  bill  in  the  morn- 
ing. This  is  a  dreary  spot  now,  and  in  the  winter 
more  fearful  it  must  be. 

In  the  morning  we  found  the  path  that  led  us  out 
of  the  valley  to  the  Glaciers  of  the  Aar.  The  moun- 

11 


242  SWITZEKLAND. 

tain  of  earth,  rocks,  ice  and  snow  that  we  encoun- 
tered put  to  flight  all  ideas  we  had  formed  of  a  gla- 
cier. We  seemed  to  have  come  to  a  vast  heap  of 
sand,  or  to  the  debris  brought  down  by  an  avalanche, 
but  from  the  base  of  it  a  torrent  was  rushing  of  a 
dirty  milky  hue,  and  out  of  its  front  we  could  see  rocks 
of  blue  ice  projecting.  Now  and  then  a  mass  of  earth 
or  a  huge  boulder  would  be  hurled  along  down  the 
precipice. 

And  this  mighty  mass  of  ice,  decaying  at  the  front 
and  pressed  down  from  above,  is  slowly  moving  on- 
ward at  the  rate  of  some  twelve  inches  a  day.  If  a 
stream  of  water  running  across  it  cuts  a  wide  seam,  so 
that  the  mass  is  suddenly  brought  down,  the  shock 
will  throw  up  the  ice  in  ridges,  and  in  various  fantastic 
shapes,  as  if  some  great  explosion  had  upheaved  the 
frozen  ocean,  and  the  fragments  had  come  down  in 
wild  confusion,  like  the  ruins  of  a  crystal  city.  Then 
the  sun  gradually  melts  the  towers,  and  they  assume 
shapes  of  dazzling  beauty,  palaces  of  glass,  silver 
domes,  and  shining  battlements — making  us  to  won- 
der that  so  much  beauty  and  magnificence  are  seem- 
ingly wasted  in  these  dreary  solitudes. 

Nestled  charmingly  among  the  hills  is  the  sweet  vil- 
lage of  Interlaken.  The  plain  which  it  adorns  stretches 
from  Lake  Thun  to  Lake  Brienz,  and  the  quiet  retreat 
it  furnishes  is  improved  by  hundreds  of  English  peo- 


PICTURES   IN   SWITZERLAND.  243 

pie,  who  make  it  a  summer  residence.  It  combines 
two  advantages,  very  rarely  blended  in  this  world — 
it  is  cheap  and  genteel.  A  large  number  of  neat  board- 
ing-houses, some  of  them  aspiring  to  the  rank  of  first- 
class  hotels,  are  scattered  along  the  main  street  of  the 
village  ;  and  at  the  Hotel  des  Alpen,  the  largest  estab- 
lishment and  admirably  kept,  the  traveller  may  find 
good  rooms  and  board  for  a  dollar  a  day,  and  at  even 
less  than  that  if  he  is  disposed  to  be  very  economical. 
We  had  crossed  the  Wengern  Alp  and  passed  the  vale 
of  Grindewald ;  had  seen  an  avalanche  come  down 
from  the  side  of  the  Jungfrau,  and  been  amused  with 
the  little  cascade  called  the  Staubach,  about  which 
poets  and  printers  have  gone  into  ecstasies  ;  and  we 
were  glad  to  find  so  quiet,  beautiful,  and  civilized  a 
spot  in  which  to  sit  down  for  a  few  days  and  rest. 

While  we  were  at  Interlaken  we  made  a  beautiful 
excursion  on  Lake  Brienz  to  the  Giesbach  Fall.  It 
has  some  peculiarities  that  claim  for  it  the  very  first 
rank  among  the  falls  of  Switzerland.  See  the  little 
stream  that  issues  as  from  a  cleft  in  the  rock,  nearly 
a  thousand  feet  above  the  waters  of  the  lake.  Then 
among  the  dark  evergreens  the  white  flood  comes  swel- 
ling and  plunging  into  secret  abysses  where  the  eye 
can  not  search  its  hidings,  but  it  rises  again  with  a 
widened  torrent,  and  now  spreads  a  broad  bosom  of 
waters  over  a  mighty  precipice  ;  and  here  a  bridge  has 


2M  SWITZERLAND. 

been  thrown  across  in  front  of  the  falls,  and  a  gallery- 
cut  away  behind  it,  so  that  it  may  be  circumvented 
by  the  visitor  who  is  provided  with  an  overcoat  of 
India  rubber,  or  is  willing  to  take  a  thorough  sponging 
for  sake  of  the  submarine  excursion.  When  I  had 
completed  the  circuit,  a  lady  was  regretting  that  she 
could  not  venture  on  the  tour,  but  her  scruples  were 
instantly  removed  when  I  offered  lier  my  water-proof, 
and  in  a  few  minutes  she  returned  "  charmed"  with 
her  trip.  Once  more  the  swollen  mass  of  waters 
plunges  over  the  rocks  and  shoots  out  into  the  lake,  in 
one  of  the  most  romantic  and  beautiful  regions  that  is 
to  be  found  in  this  wildly  beautiful  land. 

I  pass  over  the  experiences  of  a  few  days' travel,  and 
come  suddenly  to  the  summit  of  the  Col  deBalm. 

Mont  Blanc  is  in  sight !  Not  a  faint  and  doubtful 
view  of  a  peak  among  a  hundred  peaks,  but  the  mon- 
arch of  the  Alps  stands  there — a  king  in  his  glory, 
revealed  from  his  summit  to  the  base.  A  cloud  ig 
gathered  like  a  halo  on  his  bead;  but  it  rises  and 
vanishes  as  we  look  upon  it  with  silent  admiration 
and  awe.  Around  him  are  the  Aiguilles  or  Needles, 
bare  pinnacles  of  rock  stretching  up  like  guards  into 
the  heavens,  and  between  are  the  glaciers — reflecting 
now  the  rays  of  the  noonday  sun,  and  among  them 


PICTURES   IN   SWITZERLAND.  24:5 

the  Mer  de  Glace — winding  along  down  the  gorges, 
and  resting  their  cold  feet  in  the  vale  below. 

Afterward  I  saw  Mont  Blanc  from  its  base,  and 
sought  other  heights  from  which  it  might  be  surveyed, 
but  I  could  find  nothing  comparable  to  the  view  from 
the  Col  de  Bairn.  There  it  stands,  towering  fifteen 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  ten  feet  toward  the  sky, 
the  loftiest  summit  in  Europe,  with  thirty-four  gla- 
ciers around  it ;  and  as  I  gazed,  it  was  a  strange 
question  to  discuss — but  one  that  might  well  be 
argued  till  sundown — is  old  Ocean,  or  Niagara,  a 
sublimer  sight  ? 

It  seems  so  near  the  sky  that  the  blue  firmament 
kisses  its  brow.  It  is  so  far  oif,  yet  so  near,  so  bright 
and  pure,  that  the  angels  might  be  sporting  on  its 
summit  and  be  safe  from  the  intrusion  of  men.  It  is 
a  solemn  mountain.  Even  the  hills  of  Syria  and 
Palestine,  on  which  I  afterward  gazed,  Lebanon  and 
Hermon,  Carmel  and  Horeb,  with  their  hallowed 
memories  clustering  on  them,  were  not  more  impres- 
sive than  this  hoary  hill — forever  clothed  in  white 
raiment,  standing  there  like  an  ivory  throne  for  the 
King  of  Kings ! 

We  went  down  into  the  vale  of  Chamouni,  and  at 
evening  saw  the  stars  like  diamonds  sparkling  in  the 
crown  of  the  monarch,  and  then  the  moonbeams  fell 
all  cold  upon  his  crest.  We  rose  the  next  morning 


24:6  SWITZERLAND. 

early,  and  saw  the  summit  of  Mont  Blanc  in  a  blaze 
of  glory  long  before  the  dwellers  in  the  vale  had  seen 
the  rays  of  the  rising  sun. 
And  then  we  left  Switzerland. 


CHAPTEE  XIY. 

SAXON  SWYTZ. 

A  model  guide— The  Bastei— Banditti  of  old— A  cataract  to  order— Scaling  a 
Rampart— Konigstein— the  Kuhstall— the  Great  Winterberg— Prebisch 
Thor — Looking  Back. 

£T  a  corner  of  Saxony  is  a  miniature 
Switzerland.  They  call  it  Saxon 
Switzerland  ;  perhaps  the  name  is  not 
well  chosen,  for  it  has  one  feature 
only  of  Swiss  scenery — exceeding 
beauty.  Only  three  days  are  required 
to  see  it,  and  two  will  give  a  good 
traveller  all  the  more  prominent 
points,  in  a  series  of  views,  the  ro- 
mantic loveliness  of  which  will  linger  a  lifetime  in 
the  memory  of  one  who  has  seen  them.  The  Elbe  is 
now  navigated  by  little  steamboats,  which  English 
enterprise  introduced,  but  a  better,  way  to  reach 
(247) 


24:8  SWITZERLAND. 

Saxon  Swytz,  if  you  are  pressed  for  time,  is  to  go 
with  us  by  rail  to.  Rathen,  and  there  strike  off  into 
the  mountains.  A  local  guide  must  be  had  at  once, 
before  you  take  a  step.  It  was  now  the  height  of  the 
travelling  season,  and  on  a  fine  morning  in  July  we 
found  ourselves  at  a  small  tavern  on  the  banks  of  the 
Elbe,  with  half  a  dozen  men  about  us  pressing  their 
claims  to  be  employed  as  guides  among-  the  moun- 
tains. "  Do  you  speak  English  ?"  we  inquired  of  one  : 
to  which  he  answered  "  Yes,"  and  this  with  the  fre- 
quent exclamation  "look  here"  proved  to  be  the 
Alpha  and  Omega  of  our  German's  knowledge  of 
English.  He  had  a  book  of  certificates  which  former 
travellers  had  given  him,  and  as  they  were  sure  he 
could  not  read  one  of  them,  they  had  very  freely 
commended  him  as  ignorant,  stupid,  temperate  and 
faithful,  acquainted  with  the  country,  and  probably 
no  worse  a  guide  than  the  rest.  He  was  our  man. 
We  could  get  out  of  him  all  that  was  necessary,  and 
as  he  pleaded  hard  for  employment,  and  knew  three 
words  of  English  more  than  the  rest,  we  took  him, 
and  in  five  minutes  he  took  us  into  a  small  boat  to 
pull  us  over  the  Elbe.  Instantly  the  bewitching 
scenery  began  to  surround  us.  The  river  was  here 
so  winding  that  we  could  see  a  little  way  only,  either 
up  or  down,  but  the  lofty  banks  rose  so  abruptly  from 
the  water  and  the  rocks,  in  the  midst  of  which 


SAXON    SWYTZ.  249 

evergreens  were  growing,  hung  so  fearfuly  above  us, 
that  we  seemed  to  be  suddenly  borne  into  a  land  of 
enchantment.  We  landed  on  the  other  side,  a 
"  house  of  refreshment,"  where  German  ladies  and 
gentlemen  were  recruiting  themselves  with  beer, 
which  like  an  overflowing  stream  appears  to  come 
from  some  exhaustless  fountain.  Now  we  are  to 
decide  between  a  pedestrian  tour  and  mules.  We 
were  not  long  in  making  up  our  minds,  and  soon  we 
were  off  on  the  beasts ;  sorry  beasts  they  were ; 
better  men  than  Balaam  might  have  wished  for  a 
sword,  or  some  more  fitting  weapon  to  make  them 
go.  They  were  indifferent  to  all  minor  arguments, 
such  as  words  and  kicks,  and  only  conscious  of  the 
a  posteriori  mode  of  reasoning,  to  which  the  muleteer 
in  the  rear  continually  resorted.  We  left  the  common 
road,  and  by  a  narrow  path  commenced  the  ascent  to 
one  of  the  most  celebrated  and  splendid  points  of 
observation,  the  Bastei.  On  either  side  of  us  as  we 
are  ascending,  huge  precipices  frown  and  deep  grottoes 
in  which  the  fairy  spirits  of  these  forests  may  be 
supposed  to  dwell,  invite  us  to  rest  as  weary  of  the 
upward  way.  Now  a  waterfall,  beautiful  as  water 
in  motion  always  is,  and  picturesque  as  a  cascade  in 
the  green  woods  must  be,  tempts  us  to  linger  and 
take  the  spray  on  our  heated  brows.  Through  dense 
shades  of  evergreen  forests,  by  a  path  so  steep,  at 

11* 


250  SWITZERLAND. 

times,  that  it  is  difficult  to  keep  your  seat  in  the 
saddle,  we  toil  on,  and  in  the  course  of  an  hour  have 
triumphed  over  the  hardships  of  the  hill,  and  have 
reached  the  summit  of  the  loftiest  bastion  in  the 
world.  It  is  as  perpendicular  as  a  wall  that  has  been 
reared  for  defence.  The  rock  on  which  we  were 
standing  projects  from  the  front  of  the  precipice,  and 
we  are  hanging  six  hundred  feet  above  the  Elbe. 
The  river  winds  round  the  base  of  the  mountain,  and 
both  up  and  down  the  stream  for  many  miles  the  eye 
rests  on  similar  heights  on  the  same  side  that  we  are 
standing.  Behind  us,  Ossa  upon  Pelion  seems  to  be 
piled.  Giant  rocks  stand  up  there  in  solemn  and 
solitary  grandeur,  as  if  by  some  great  convulsion  of 
nature  the  earth  had  been  torn  from  their  sides,  and 
they  were  left  to  brave  earthquakes  and  thunderbolts 
with  their  naked  heads  and  sides  exposed  to  per- 
petual storms.  Yet  the  bravery  of  man  has  bridged 
the  horrid  chasms  that  yawn  between  these  separated 
cliffs,  and  they  have  in  times  past,  been  the  hiding 
places  of  banditti,  who  from  these  heights  could 
watch  the  Elbe,  and  make  their  descent  upon  the 
hapless  navigator  of  the  peaceful  stream.  On  one  of 
the  rocks  is  a  huge  boulder  so  evenly  balanced  on  the 
very  pinnacle  that  it  has  been  called  "Napoleon's 
Crown,"  and  another  from  a  fancied  resemblance, 
"  the  Turk's  head,"  and  all  of  them  have  titles  more 


SAXON    8WTTZ.  251 

or  less  fitting.  Across  the  river,  and  in  front  of  us, 
the  plain  spreads  wide  and  rises  as  it  recedes  from, 
the  shore  till  it  meets  a  range  of  wooded  mountains. 
From  the  midst  of  this  plain  there  rise  immense 
cones,  suddenly  and  remarkably,  strange  formations,  a 
study  for  the  geologist,  probably  left  there  when  all 
the  surrounding  masses  were  worn  away  by  the  Elbe 
in  making  its  way  through  this  mountainous  region. 
The  country  is  full  of  legends  connected  with  each 
and  all  of  these  strange  columns,  the  summits  of 
which  are  sometimes  crowned  with  castles,  and  one 
of  them,  the  Lilienstein,  is  so  perpendicular  and  lofty, 
that  the  Elector  of  Saxony  and  King  of  Poland, 
when  he  had  scaled  its  heights,  left  a  record  of  his 
memorable  exploit.  In  the  hiding  places  of  this 
wild  and  rugged  rock,  the  spirits  of  the  woods  are 
supposed  to  hover  over  concealed  treasures.  "  A 
holy  nun  miraculously  transported  from  the  irregu- 
larities of  her  convent  to  the  summit  of  the  Norrhen- 
stein,  that  she  might  spend  her  days  in  prayer  and 
purity  in  its  caverns,  is  commemorated  in  the  name 
of  the  rock,  and  the  '  Jungfernsprung]  or  leap  of  the 
Yirgin,  perpetuates  the  memory  of  the  Saxon  maid 
who  when  pursued  by  a  brutal  lustling  threw  herself 
from  the  brink  of  its  hideous  precipice  to  die  unpol- 
luted."— KUSSELL. 

Konigstein,  nearly  a  thousand  feet  high,  with  its 


252  SWITZERLAND. 

impregnable  fortress,  we  shall  attempt  this  afternoon, 
and  enter  it  with  a  flag  of  truce,  as  it  was  never  taken 
by  force.  We  came  up  here  for  the  sake  of  view,  and 
fully  repaid  for  the  toil  of  the  ride,  we  are  now  pre- 
pared to  descend  by  another  route,  when  we  are  told 
for  the  first  time  that  the  mules  are  not  for  us  to  ride 
down,  we  must  foot  it,  and  the  mules  be  driven  by 
the  same  road  they  came  up.  Through  the  wildest 
of  all  wild  gorges  our  winding  way  led  us,  at  the  base 
of  jagged  rocks  of  fearful  height,  out  of  the  broken 
breasts  of  which  huge  trees  were  growing,  threatening 
to  fall,  yet  clinging  for  life  to  the  crevices  in  which 
their  roots  were  fastened.  Now  and  then  a  scared 
eagle  would  scream  and  soar  away  from  his  nest,  but 
rarely  did  a  sound  except  the  murmur  of  water,  and 
the  sighing  of  the  air  through  the  narrow  defile  dis- 
turb the  deep  stillness  of  that  solitude.  That  project- 
ing rock,  with  its  adjacent  pillars  of  stone,  is  called 
the  Devil's  Pulpit,  and  that,  the  Throne,  and  so  other 
points  of  peculiar  configuration  have  names  more  or 
less  fanciful,  which  a  lively  imagination  has  given 
them.  Suddenly,  we  came  upon  a  family  of  peasants, 
who  have  a  hut  under  the  shelter  of  the  rocks,  and  a 
few  articles  of  refreshment  for  weary  travellers ; 
sweet  milk,  and  bread  and  cheese,  and  a  bottle  or  two 
of  liquor — but  they  are  chiefly  and  decidedly  in  the 
cold  water  line ;  they  are  in  the  cataract  business ! 


SAXON   8WYTZ.  253 

The  little  stream  that  takes  this  gorge  in  its  way  to 
the  Elbe,  at  this  point,  would  make  a  leap  of  some 
twenty  feet  among  the  rocks.  With  an  economy  that 
would  do  honor  to  American  foreoight,  these  people 
have  made  a  dam  across  the  rivulet  before  it  falls,  and 
thus  accumulating  the  waters,  have  them  ready  for  a 
grand  splurge,  when  a  party  come  along  who  are 
willing  to  pay  a  few  pence  for  the  pleasure  of  seeing 
the  performance.  One  of  our  people  gave  the  word 
of  command  in  German,  of  which  a  free  translation 
would  be  "  Let  her  slide,"  and  down  came  the  young 
Niagara.  But  for  the  ludicrous  idea  of  an  artificial 
.cataract  in  the  mountains,  the  sight  would  have  been 
very  pretty.  The  gorge  hitherto  had  been  so  narrow 
and  deep,  that  the  sun  never  shines  to  the  bottom, 
and  no  flowers  ever  cheer  its  gloom  ;  but  now  the  sun 
lighted  up  the  falling  drops,  making  them  like  great 
diamonds,  as  we  from  behind  the  sheet  looked  out 
upon  the  extempore  waterfall.  It  was  a  walk  of  four 
or  five  miles,  through  such  scenes,  to  the  place  from 
which  we  had  started,  and  here  we  awaited  the  com- 
ing of  a  little  steamer  which  was  creeping  along  the 
banks  to  pick  up  passengers.  It  picked  us  up,  and 
dropped  us  in  a  few  minutes  at  Konigstein,  or  the 
King's  Stone.  The  little  town  with  a  thousand  peo- 
ple in  it,  would  not  deserve  a  call,  but  it  is  in  our 
way  to  the  fortress  on  the  summit  of  the  rocky  height 


254:  SWITZERLAND. 

behind.  The  road  is  paved  all  the  way  with  large 
square  stones,  making  a  carriage  path,  up  which  enor- 
mous guns  are  dragged  for  its  defence.  To  this  day 
it  boasts  of  never  having  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy.  Napoleon,  with  incredible  toil,  carried  some 
of  his  heaviest  pieces  of  ordnance  to  the  top  of  Lilien- 
stein,  but  could  not  reach  it  with  his  balls.  Much  of 
the  distance  up  which  we  toiled,  the  road  is  cut 
through  a  living  rock,  which  rises  a  solid  wall  on 
either  side,  and  winds  around  the  hill,  till  we  come 
to  a  wooden  bridge  over  an  awful  chasm,  which  sepa- 
rates the  passage  from  the  cliff  on  which  the  fortress 
stands,  on  a  platform  two  miles  in  circuit,  inaccessible 
except  to  friends,  or  to  foes  with  wings.  One  port- 
cullis passed,  and  we  have  only  come  to  the  gate. 
Iron  spikes  projecting  from  the  stonework  threaten  us 
as  we  approach.  At  the  gate,  soldiers  are  looking 
through  the  port-holes,  and  challenge  us  to  stand. 
They  take  our  cards  and  passports  to  the  commander, 
and  soon  return  with  permission  for  us  to  enter.  But 
once  admitted  within  the  massive  gate,  we  have  still  a 
long  bridge  across  the  moat  to  pass,  and  the'n  by  a 
covered  passage  at  an  angle  of  forty-five  degrees,  over 
a  stone  road,  up  which  cannon  are  drawn  by  a  wind- 
lass, we  come  out  on  the  summit  of  the  hill  to  a  scene 
of  transcendent  beauty,  and  of  the  richest  'historic 
interest.  The  ground  is  neatly  laid  out  in  walks  and 


SAXON   SWYTZ.  255 

gardens ;  there  are  fields  of  pasture  for  herds  of  cattle 
and  of  grain  raised  for  the  support  of  the  garrison. 
Their  unfailing  supply  of  water  is  drawn  from  a  well 
eighteen  hundred  feet  deep  !  "We  held  a  mirror  to  the 
sun,  and  sent  the  reflected  light  away  down  into  that 
mysterious  depth,  and  watched  it  sporting  on  the 
waters.  Then  we  poured  a  glass  of  water  into  the 
well,  and  in  thirty  seconds  by  the  watch,  the  sound 
returned  to  our  listening  ears.  Sound  travels  eleven 
hundred  and  forty-two  feet  in  a  second,  and  would 
therefore  be  less  than  two  seconds  in  coming  up  ;  so 
that  if  our  measure  of  time  was  correct,  it  must  have 
taken  the  water  nearly  half  a  minute  to  travel  down  to 
the  surface  from  which  it  had  been  drawn.  We  drank 
of  that  well  and  found  the  water  cool  and  delightful. 
Standing  on  the  ramparts,  which  are  defended  by 
enormous  guns,  we  overlooked  the  plains  on  one  hand, 
the  river  and  the  romantic  hills  of  Saxon  Switzerland 
on  the  other.  Again  the  columnal  rocks  arrested  our 
attention,  more  peculiar  now  that  we  are  nearer.  Far, 
very  .far  higher  than  the  loftiest  cathedral  spire,  and 
not  broader  at  the  base,  they  rise  in  solitary  grandeur, 
where  the  Great  Architect  of  the  earth  first  placed 
them,  and  where  they  will  stand  till  all  the  cathedrals 
and  fortresses  and  pyramids  of  man's  building  have 
crumbled  into  dust. 

We  bought  a  few  pieces  of  Bohemian  glass  ware 


256  SWITZERLAND. 

as  souvenirs  of  this  visit,  and  then  reluctantly  turning 
away  from  the  scene,  which  seemed  more  beautiful 
the  longer  we  dwelt  upon  it — so  it  is  with  beauty 
ever — we  reluctantly  came  down. 

A  German  full  of  humor,  a  rare  sort  of  German, 
for  they  are  not  addicted  to  the  humorous  at  home  or 
abroad,  had  joined  us  in  our  pedestrian  tour  to 
Konigstein  ;  and  having  just  come  down  the  river  as 
we  were  going  up,  he  gave  us  the  information  we 
asked  for  of  the  upper  country.  He  spoke  a 
"  leetel  English,"  and  that  made  his  answers  more 
amusing. 

"  Which  is  the  best  hotel  for  us  in  Ichandau  ?"  we 
inquired. 

"  They  is  dree  hotels,  one  is  so  bad  as  de  toder," 
said  he. 

"And  what  shall  we  find  at  Winterberg?" 

"  Noding  but  gray  sand-stone  and  sheating 
strangers." 

With  this  very  unpromising  prospect,  we  waited 
for  the  steamer  to  come  along  to  take  us  to  Ichandau 
and  Winterberg. 

Steaming  on  the  Elbe  is  a  very  small  affair  ;  a  nar- 
row boat  with  a  long  nose,  moves  on  at  the  rate  of 
four  or  five  miles  an  hour,  and  stops  at  the  end  of  a 
plank  or  two  put  out  from  the  shore  for  a  wharf. 
One  of  these  filled  with  pleasure  travellers  in  the  aft 


SAXON    SWYTZ.  257 

and  the  long  bows  covered  with  peasantry,  touched 
at  Konigstein,  and  received  us.  It  was  near  sunset. 
W^e  were  often  in  the  deep  shadows  of  the  mountains, 
and  then  through  the  openings,  or  as  the  circuitous 
river  brought  us  into  the  day  again,  the  declining 
sun  streamed  upon  us  with  exceeding  beauty.  Tired 
with  the  hard  day's  work,  having  mounted  the  Bastei 
on  one  side  of  the  Elbe,  and  Konigstem  on  the  other, 
I  was  glad  to  lie  off  upon  a  bench  and  enjoy  the 
luxury  of  this  cool  delicious  hour.  Ichandau 
charmingly  dropped  down  among  the  mountains,  is 
an  old  town,  but  only  remarkable  as  the  point  from 
which  to  set  off  on  exploring  expeditions  into  the 
interior  of  Saxon  Switzerland.  The  three  hotels 
were  filled  with  company,  who  were  spending  their 
evening  in  eating  and  drinking  at  small  tables  on 
the  piazzas,  or  under  the  shade  trees,  a  practice  of 
which  the  Germans  are  more  fond  than  any  other 
people  I  have  met.  "We  found  beds  in  a  great  ball- 
room, with  low  partitions  running  between  them,  so 
that  when  the  room  was  needed  for  dancing,  these 
could  be  readily  removed.  I  was  in  want  of  some 
refreshments  after  the  fatigues  of  the  day,  and  when 
the  various  drinks  that  I  called  for  were  not  to  be  had, 
the  waiter  asked  me  if  I  would  have  "  Yahmah  Kah 
rhoom,"  which  I  declined  after  finding  that  he  meant 
Jamaica  rum.  Without  any  night-cap  of  the  sort, 


258  SWITZERLAND. 

and  spite  of  more  noise  than  would  have  been  agree- 
able if  we  had  not  been  so  weary,  we  had  a  good  night 
of  it,  and  rose  with  the  am  to  continue  our 
pilgrimage.  A  carriage  was  ready  for  us,  to  convey 
us  six  miles  from  Ichandau,  through  a  romantic  glen, 
wide  enough  to  afford  beautiful  meadows  on  both 
sides  of  a  stream,  by  the  side  of  which  a  good  road 
was  leading  us  into  the  mountains.  The  women 
were  at  work  making  hay,  scores  of  them,  and  not  a 
man  to  be  seen.  The  brightest  of  Cole's  landscapes 
among  the  Kaatskill  mountains  came  to  my  mind  as 
we  rode  on,  and  admired  the  green  hill  sides ;  then, 
as  we  advanced,  gnarled  trees  stood  out  upon  the 
rocks,  immense  piles,  jagged,  riven,  blasted  and 
heaped  one  upon  another  in  such  orderly  confusion, 
that  it  seemed  as  if  architecture  had  done  its  worst  to 
make  towers  for  giants  here. 

.  Our  ride  terminated  at  Peishll  Swarl,  where  we 
were  surrounded  by  a  troop  of  men  who  had  horses 
to  let,  and  in  their  German  tongue,  they  clamored 
most  importunately  for  us  to  engage  them.  Our 
friend,  the  Rev.  Dr.  K.,  being  of  German  origin,  and 
better  skilled  in  the  language  than  the  rest  of  us,  we 
left  to  make  the  bargain,  while  we  selected  the  best 
horses  for  ourselves  with  that  beautiful  selfishness  so 
common  to  the  human  species.  As  we  deserved,  and 
as  he  deserved,  we  got  the  worst  of  the  lot,  and  he 


SAXON    SWTTZ.  259 

was  soon  mounted  on  a  handsome  pony,  that  easily- 
led  the  party,  the  whole  day.  Now  it  maybe  known 
to  some  who  read  this,  that  Dr.  K.  is  not  a  very  tall 
divine,  but  what  he  lacks  of  being  gigantic  in  height, 
he  makes  up  in  breadth,  so  that  seated  upon  this 
little  animal  about  four  feet  high,  and  riding  up  a 
steep  mountain  pass,  when  seen  from  before,  he 
looked  like  a  horse  with  a  man's  head,  but  when  we 
gazed  upward  at  him  from  behind,  we  saw  a  man 
with  a  horse's  tail.  I  had  selected  a  good  looking 
beast,  but  it  had  a  lady's  saddle  to  which  I  objected, 
as  it  was  "  Fur  damen,"  for  women  :  but  the  owner 
promptly  met  the  objection  by  pulling  away  the  rest, 
and  crying  out  with  a  laugh  "  Fur  herren,"  for  men. 
Immediately  on  mounting  we  struck  into  the  woods, 
and  soon  into  a  narrow  pass  where  the  rocks  had 
been  cleft  asunder  just  far  enough  for  a  path  for  a 
single  horseman ;  a  hundred  steps  lead  up  to 
the  summit  of  a  lofty  hill  whence  a  fine  view  is  had 
of  the  columnal  rocks  and  numerous  peaks  of  moun- 
tains, whose  hard  names  would  not  be  remembered 
if  we  were  to  repeat  them.  On  this  height  is  the 
famous  Kuhstall,  or  in  English  Cow-stall,  a  cave  in 
the  rock,  to  which  in  the  Thirty  Tears'  war,  the 
peasants  in  the  plains  below  were  in  the  habit  of 
driving  their  cattle  for  safety,  and  in  these  all  but 
inaccessible  solitudes,  the  Protestant  Christians  fled 


260  SWITZERLAND. 

from  persecution,  and  hid  themselves  as  their  primi- 
tive brethren  did,  in  dens  and  caves  of  the  earth. 
One  of  these  recesses,  more  retired  and  better 
sheltered  than  the  rest,  had  the  name  of  the 
"  "Woman's  bed."  Who  can  tell  the  sufferings,  who 
can  tell  the  joys  that  the  people  of  God  have  known 
in  these  high  places  ?  No  cathedral  service  could  be 
more  sublime  than  prayer  and  praise  on  the  moun- 
tain tops,  and  in  the  grottoes  of  these  rocky 
heights,  where  now  the  weary  traveller  from  a  land 
on  the  other  side  of  the  sea,  sits  down  and  recalls  the 
story  of  those  times  that  "  tried  men's  souls." 
Through  a  narrow  fissure  in  the  rock  we  ascended  to 
a  platform  that  makes  the  roof  of  the  Kuhstall. 
Before  us  was  a  valley  surrounded  by  mighty  rocks 
and  pine-covered  hills,  an  amphitheatre  in  which  the 
present  population  of  the  earth  could  stand,  and  it 
required  but  little  stretch  of  the  imagination  to 
believe  that  a  strong  voice  could  be  heard  by  the 
multitude  so  assembled.  My  servant  led  my  horse  to 
the  edge  of  the  precipice,  many  hundred  feet  high, 
and  he  planted  his  feet  firmly  on  the  edge,  as  if  he 
were  accustomed  to  the  spot,  and  there  stood  for  me 
to  enjoy  the  glorious  scene.  On  this  lofty  and  far 
away  height,  some  women  had  a  stand  for  the  sale  of 
strawberries  and  cream,  the  taste  of  which  did  not 
interfere  with  the  beauties  of  the  prospect,  as  I  sat 


SAXON    SWTTZ.  261 

on  my  horse  eating,  and  gazing,  and  making  these 
notes.  But  we  cannot  be  on  the  mount  always.  We 
crossed  the  valley,  and  on  the  narrow  road  met 
parties  of  German  travellers  smoking  as  they  trudged 
along,  women  and  some  children,  making  the  tour 
of  the  mountains  on  foot,  and  in  the  course  of  a 
couple  of  hours  we  commenced  the  ascent  of  the 
Great  Winterberg,  and  climbed  it  to  the  summit. 

Here  at  the  height  of  one  thousand  seven  hundred 
feet  above  the  sea  we  found  a  good  hotel,  with  every 
comfort  for  the  entertainment  of  travellers  and  a 
fine  lookout  from  which  may  be  had  the  grandest 
sight  in  Saxon  Switzerland.  I  wrote  the  names  of 
sixteen  noble  peaks  that  stood  up  around  me,  with 
their  thick  green  foliage,  the  intervening  valleys 
dense  with  forest,  the  beautiful  Elbe  silently  circling 
the  base  of  the  mountains,  and  the  pillars  of  stone 
rising  like  sentinels  away  off  in  the  plains  beyond. 
Our  way  lay  through  the  thick  forest,  as  we  came 
down  to  the  Prebisch  Thor  or  Gate,  a  mighty  arch,  a 
hundred  feet  broad,  and  sixty-five  feet  high,  a 
wonderful  freak  of  nature,  not  so  lofty  as  the  Natural 
Bridge  of  Virginia,  but  more  impressive  from  the 
position  it  occupies,  away  up  in  these  mountains, 
more  than  a  thousand  feet  above  the  river.  It  might 
be  the  gate  of  the  world  !  How  mean  the  splendid 
arches  of  Conquerors,  compared  with  this  which  the 


262  SWITZERLAND. 

King  of  Kings  had  reared.  I  exclaimed  with  rever- 
ence as  I  saw  it,  "  Lift  up  your  heads,  O  ye  gates, 
and  be  ye  lifted  up  ye  everlasting  doors,  and  the 
King  of  glory  shall  come  in."  A  score  of  visitors 
were  here  before  us.  A  row  of  romantic  cottages, 
clinging  like  eagles'  nests,  to  the  ledges  of  the  rocks, 
furnish  rest  and  refreshment  to  the  pilgrims,  and  we 
sat  down  in  sight  of  this  stupendous  wonder  of 
nature,  and  dined,  while  we  sought  to  take  in  at  the 
same  time,  an  image  of  it  which  we  should  never 
lose.  Underneath  the  arch  ambitious  travellers  have 
vied  with  each  other  in  seeing  how  high  they  could 
inscribe  their  names,  and  some  have  made  the 
records  so  as  to  resemble  tombstones,  rows  of  which 
are  cut  into  the  solid  rock.  Visitors  from  many  dif- 
ferent lands,  have  in  their  several  languages  left  their 
impressions  in  the  book  which  is  kept  here  for  the 
purpose,  and  we  added  our  names  and  a  faint 
transcript  of  our  feelings  to  the  records  of  the 
Prebisch  Thor.  The  descent  was  by  several  hundred 
steps,  sometimes  of  wood,  then  of  stone,  and  again 
of  earth,  which  we  made  on  foot,  while  the  horses 
were  led  by  a  longer  road  around.  As  we  came 
down  into  the  valley,  we  met — for  we  were  now  in 
Bohemia,  under  Austrian  rule — numerous  beggars 
with  various  claims  upon  our  charity.  Among  them 
was  an  old  woman  who  stretched  out  a  pair  of  naked 


SAXON    SWYTZ.  263 

arms  dried  to  the  bone  and  the  color  of  bronze,  her 
feet  and  the  lower  part  of  her  legs,  her  head  and 
breast  were  bare,  and  all  so  dried  and  dark,  so  unlike 
a  woman  that  it  made  me  sick  to  look  at  her.  "  Can 
a  woman  come  to  that  ?"  I  asked  myself,  as  I  gave  my 
servant  some  money  for  the  old  crone,  and  hurried 
on  for  fear  she  would  get  before  me  again  to  thank 
me.  In  the  stream  which  comes  leaping  down  from 
the  mountain,  were  women  and  children  wading, 
with  hooks  in  their  hands  to  catch  the  floating  bits 
of  wood,  and  bring  them  ashore  for  fuel.  The  narrow 
defile  through  which  we  passed  was  picturesque,  and 
the  great  mountains  behind  us  often  called  us  back 
to  look  at  the  heights  where  we  had  stood,  and  so 
now  looking  back,  and  now  plunging  on  and  down, 
into  the  regions  of  human  dwellings,  by  little  mills 
on  the  leaping  stream,  and  by  the  side  of  cottages 
where  some  taste  appeared  in  vines  and  flowers,  we 
arrived  at  Hirniskretchen,  on  the  Elbe.  Here  we 
crossed  the  river,  and  by  the  railroad  which  comes 
along  on  the  other  side,  we  reached  in  a  few  moments 
the  station  at  Bodeiibach  the  frontier  town  of 
Austria.  The  train  is  detained  an  hour,  while  the 
passports,  and  luggage  of  all  the  passengers  are 
examined  with  that  minuteness  which  is  always  suf- 
fered in  small  towns  more  inconveniently  than  in 
cities.  Some  of  the  ladies'  trunks  made  such  revela- 


264:  SWITZERLAND. 

tions  of  articles  of  dress  and  jewelry,  that  no 
protestations  of  their  being  designed  only  for  personal 
use  were  of  any  avail.  It  was  impossible  in  the 
eyes  of  these  simple  officers,  that  women  could  need 
so  many  gloves,  and  laces  and  bracelets,  and  they 
were  all  examined  even  to  the  smallest  boxes  of 
"  bijouterie"  which  could  be  found.  We  had  no 
difficulty  whatever,  being  very  slightly  loaded  with 
baggage  of  any  sort,  especially  of  that  sort  which 
custom  houses,  those  pests  of  nations,  are  so  apt  to 
challenge.  At  last  we  were  pronounced  all  right, 
and  the  train  set  off,  through  a  beautiful  country,  a 
massive  church  standing  on  one  side  of  the  river,  a 
towering  castle  on  the  other ;  now  rushing  by  Aussig, 
a  precipice  and  gorge  of  frightful  height,  where  the 
road  hugs  the  rock  into  the  side  of  which  it  is  cut, 
and  so  through  numerous  pleasing  villages,  we  are 
hurried  on  to  the  ancient  city  of  PRAGUE. 


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